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INDIAN HERO TALES 

GILBERT L. WILSON 




INDIAN HERO TALES 




m 



Copyright, 1916, 
By GILBERT L. WILSON 



All rights reserved 



INDIAN HERO TALES 
W. P. I 




OCT -9 1916 



©CI.A438757 



FOREWORD 



The Indian tribes of New England and Nova Scotia 
were called Abnaki, or East-land folk, by their Algonkin 
relatives ; and Tarrateens, by our Puritan fathers. They 
played no small part in early New England history. 
Massasoit, Samoset, Uncas, Canoncljet, King Philip, 
were Abnakis. 

Small remnants of these tribes remain on New Eng- 
land soil. The Penobscots of Old Town, Maine, and 
the Passamaquoddies about Passamaquoddy Bay still 
hold to their language and many ancient customs. 
They number a few hundreds. The Micmacs, four 
thousand souls, chiefly in Nova Scotia, are as numer- 
ous as they were four centuries ago. 

Indians believe in many gods and spirits ; but no 
one of these is a Great Spirit, in the sense in which 
we use the term. However, every tribe has some 
legend of a creator, or first-maker, to whom the tribe 
owes its origin. 

Glooskap is the Abnaki creator. His name means 
Deceiver ; for when he forsook earth, Glooskap prom- 
ised to return, but has not done so. 

5 



I 



6 



FOREWORD 



Two considerable collections of Abnaki myths have 
been made. The Rev. Silas Rand, fifty years a mis- 
sionary to the Micmacs, recorded legends of that tribe ; 
they were published after his death, in 1894. In 1883 
and 1884, Charles G. Leland collected legends from the 
Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes, publishing them 
in 1885. These two collections are authorities for most 
of the tales in this book. For the eighth tale, Mac- 
Lean's " Canadian Savage Folk," and for the tenth tale, 
the " Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Eth- 
nology," are authorities. 

The illustrations in this book are from drawings by 
the author's brother. Many are from sketches made in 
the summer of 1912 when the author and his brother 
were making studies among the Hidatsa Indians for the 
American Museum of Natural History. Artist and 
author acknowledge courtesy of Professors M. R. Har- 
rington, Frank G. Speck, W. H. Mechling, and W. C. 
Orchard of the University of Pennsylvania, in furnish- 
ing information or photographs ; of Dr. Edward Sapir 
and Mr. Harlan Smith of the Canadian Geological Sur- 
vey, who loaned photographic studies of Abnaki arts; 
and of Dr. Clark Wissler of the American Museum of 
Natural History. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

First Tale — The Coming of Glooskap .... 9 
Second Tale — The Making of Man . . . n 

Third Tale — Glooskap's Family . . . . .15 
Fourth Tale — Glooskap and the Wicked Winpi . . 21 
Fifth Tale — Glooskap and the Friendly Loons . . 37 
Sixth Tale — Mikchich, Glooskap's Uncle ... 39 
Seventh Tale — -Glooskap and Kitpoosaguno . . • 57 
Eighth Tale — The Little Lads and the Kookwesses . 68 

Ninth Tale — Glooskap and the Witches. . . • 73 
Tenth Tale — Glooskap and Pokinskwess . . . -77 
Eleventh Tale — Pulowech, Glooskap's Friend ... 87 
Twelfth Tale — Glooskap and the Giant Sorcerers . . 103 
Thirteenth Tale — Glooskap and Tumilkoontawoo . .109 
Fourteenth Tale — Glooskap and Atosis . . . .115 
Fifteenth Tale — Glooskap and the Frog Chief . . 122 
Sixteenth Tale — Glooskap's Return to the Village . 130 

Seventeenth Tale — The Men who Disobeyed Glooskap . 132 
Eighteenth Tale — Keekwajoo and Kaktoogwasees . . 138 
Nineteenth Tale — The Going of Glooskap . . .156 
Twentieth Tale — Glooskap and the Three Seekers . .159 

7 



8 



CONTENTS 



Twenty-first Tale — Glooskap and the Three Men who 



became Pines . . . . . .. . .167 

Twenty-second Tale — The Last Battle . . . .173 

Glossary of Indian Words . . . . .175 

Explanatory Notes . . . . . . . .177 

Supplement . . . . . . . . .186 



FIRST TALE 
THE COMING OF GLOOSKAP 1 

Long ago, a canoe came over the ocean. It 
was a wonderful canoe, made of stone, yet it rode 
the waves as lightly as a bird. 

A warrior steered the canoe. He was tall, with 
great shoulders and thighs. An eagle's feather 
stood in his scalp lock. 2 It nodded as the warrior 
bent to his paddle. 

The waves, beating on the hollow boat, made 
a sound like a drum. The warrior was singing : 
1 Gl65s-kap 2 See Note I at end of volume. 

9 



10 INDIAN HERO TALES 

" I am Glooskap ; 
I come out of the east, 
I come from the sunrise ! " 

The warrior steered to the shore, laid down his 
paddle, and leaped out on the beach. 

He turned to the canoe. "Go !" he said. 
"When I have need, I will call you." And with 
his foot he gently pushed the bow. 

The great canoe lurched, righted itself in the 
water, slowly turned, stopped. A wonderful thing 
then happened. 

The canoe became an island of rock. Where the 
paddle had rested, rose a tall pine tree. 

Thus Glooskap came to the land of the Abnakis. 1 

1 Ab-na-kis 



SECOND TALE 

THE MAKING OF MAN 

It was a beautiful land. On the east lay the 
ocean. In the west were mountains. Rivers ran 
through green valleys ; on their banks stood forests 
of birch, ash, and pine. The forests were full 
of game. 

Glooskap looked upon the land. The sun had 
risen and was shining white over the ocean. 
Tall trees waved in the forests. Glooskap was 
pleased. 

"It is a good land/' he thought. "I will make 
man, and he shall dwell here ; but no living thing 



1 1 



12 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



must harm him !" He called the birds and beasts 
to a council in the forest. 

They came, and he spoke to them. "I am going 
to make man ; but I must know that you cannot 
harm him, and I must name you !" He made them 
pass, one at a time, before him. 

The bear came first, swaying his big haunches 
as he walked. "Your name is Mooin," 1 Gloos- 



"Your name," said Glooskap, "shall be Teeam. 2 
What would you do if you saw a man ?" 

The moose hung his head. "I should fear 
him/' he said. "He will hunt me with 




kap told him. "What would 
you do if you saw a man ?" 
"I should run I" said the 



bear. 

"You shall live in the 
thickets," said Glooskap. 



"In winter, you may sleep 
in a hollow tree." 

The moose came next. 



1 Moo-in 



2 Tee-am 



THE MAKING OF MAN 

■ft 



13 




snowshoes, in the deep 
snow ! 

"And I should fear 
him," cried Quabeet, 1 
the beaver, "for he will 
set traps to catch me !" 

"You shall live," 
said Glooskap, "the one 
in the forests, the other 
in the streams." 

He called Meeko, 2 the squirrel. Meeko was 
greatest of all the beasts. 

"What would you do if you 
met a man ?" Glooskap asked 
him. 

"I would scratch down trees 
upon him !" barked Meeko. 

Glooskap frowned, but lifted 
the squirrel in his arms and 
gently stroked his back. Meeko grew smaller 
and smaller, until he was as he is to-day. 

1 Qua-beet 2 Mee-ko 




i 4 INDIAN HERO TALES 

"Now, what would you do?" Glooskap asked. 

"I would run up a tree," cried Meeko. 

The land was at length ready for man. 

Glooskap drew his bow, and sent an arrow sing- 
ing among the trees. It struck an ash. The trunk 
split, and out sprang a warrior, young and handsome. 

Again Glooskap shot, splitting an ash ; and 
there stepped out a young woman, with shining 
eyes. So he shot until his quiver was empty, and 
there were many men and women in the land. 

Glooskap looked upon them and was glad. 

"You shall be my people," he told them; "I 
will teach you many things. You shall build canoes. 
You shall make traps and bows, and plant corn. 
And you shall be called Abnakis, or Men of the 
East, because your land lies nearest the sunrise." 



THIRD TALE 
GLOOSKAP'S FAMILY 

So Glooskap dwelt with the Abnakis. He taught 
them to build villages and sail canoes ; to hunt and 
fish and plant corn ; to bury fish in their fields that 
the corn might grow. 1 All that they knew, they 
learned of him. 

Sometimes he lived in their villages and was 
their chief. Again, he dwelt apart by the sea ; or 
he pitched his wigwam on an island where it was 
hard to come to him even in a canoe. 

Glooskap had no wife. An old woman mended 
his moccasins and kept his pot boiling. He called 
1 See Note 2 at end of volume. 
IS 



1 6 INDIAN HERO TALES 

her his grandmother. 1 Her name was the Bear 
Woman. 

And she could be a bear if she wanted ; for every- 
thing was strange in those days. All the Abnakis 
were named for beasts or birds, and could turn into 
these when they willed. 

A small lad played about Glooskap's wigwam 
and helped the old grandmother. His name was 
Abistanooch, 2 or the marten. Glooskap called him 
his younger brother. 3 Abistanooch could be a babe, 
a lad, or a young man, as he had need. 

The little marten ate always from a birch-bark 
dish. If danger came nigh him, he had but to drop 

the dish and Glooskap, 
finding it, would know 
what to do. 

These two, the Bear 
Woman and Abista- 
nooch, were Glooskap's 
family. He had no kin of his own. 

It was not always so. Malsum, 4 the wolf, was 
1 See Note 3 . 2 A-bis-ta-nooch 3 See Note 4. 4 Ma'l-sum 




GLOOSKAP'S FAMILY 17 

Glooskap's twin brother. But Malsum was wicked ; 
he had caused his own mother's death. Glooskap 
was good. 

The brothers had charmed lives ; and each could 
be slain by one thing only. Neither 
knew what it was that could kill the 
other. 

One day when they were children, 
they played at making lodges. As 
they sat and rested, Malsum asked, 
" Elder brother, what can slay you ?" 
Glooskap did not answer at once. 

"Malsum is wicked !" he thought ; and 
he said aloud, "Do not strike me with 
an owl's feather !" 

"I," said Malsum, "fear only a fern 
root !" 

Years passed, and the brothers had 
grown to be men, when Quabeet, the 
beaver, tempted Malsum. 
"All men love Glooskap," he whispered. "Slay 
him ! Men will then obey you !" 

IND. HERO TALES — 2 





1 8 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Malsum listened to Quabeet. With his bow, he 
shot an owl and plucked out a feather ; and when 
Glooskap slept, Malsum stole in and struck him. 

The blow wakened Glooskap. He saw the feather 
and understood ; but he hid his anger. 

"Ho !" he laughed, "I dreamed I felt an owl's 
feather. Well for me it was not a pine root !" 




Days went by, and 
Glooskap and his 
brother were on a 
hunt. By a brook 
where deer came to 
drink, they built them 
a hunting lodge and 
camped. 

One morning while 
Glooskap was sleep- 
ing, Malsum dug up 
a pine root ; he crept 



into the lodge and struck his brother. 

Glooskap sprang up in anger. "Twice have you 
tried to slay me !" he cried. "No more shall you 



GLOOSKAP'S FAMILY 



19 



sleep in my wigwam !" And he drove Malsum 
from the lodge. 

But Glooskap was grieved ; and he went out and 
sat by the brook. "Mal- 
sum hates me/' he said 
aloud. "It is well he does 
not know that a cattail 
rush can slay me !" 

In the reeds by the 
brook lay Quabeet, listen- 
ing. When Glooskap had 
gone, Quabeet stole out 
and sought Malsum. 

"I heard Glooskap talk- 
ing," Quabeet told him. 
"He said a cattail rush 
can slay him !" 

Malsum was overjoyed. 
"You bring me good news," he cried. "What now 
shall I give you !" 

The beaver thought. "I am tired of the water," 
he said. "Give me wings that I may fly !" 




20 INDIAN HERO TALES 

But Malsum laughed aloud. " Begone!" he 
cried. And he drove the beaver into the brook. 

Evening came, and Glooskap was boiling a kettle 
on a fire before his camp, when Quabeet crept out 
of the reeds and called to him : "Malsum knows your 
secret ! He seeks to slay you with a cattail rush !" 

Glooskap was sad at these words. He sat all 
night with his robe about his knees, thinking of his 
brother's wickedness. In the morning he dug a 
fern root, found Malsum, and slew him. 

Then Glooskap mourned for Malsum. He put 
clay on his head, fasted, and sang a sad song ; and 
he made a fire by his brother's grave, 1 and sat there. 
1 See Note 5. 



FOURTH TALE 
GLOOSKAP AND THE WICKED WINPI 1 

I. WlNPI STEALS GLOOSKAP'S FAMILY 

Glooskap built him a wigwam. He covered it 
with bark sewed in wide strips. 2 These strips he 
could roll up and load in his canoe, when he wanted 
to move his lodge to a new place. 

He pitched his tent near the sea. It was a good 
place for a camp. 

Every day, Glooskap went out hunting, and the 
little marten fished along the shore ; and neither 
came home empty-handed. 

1 Win-pi 2 See Note 6. 



22 INDIAN HERO TALES 

One day as he came in from his hunt, Glooskap 
saw that no smoke was rising from his wigwam. 
"That is strange !" he thought. He dropped his 
pack and raised the door skin. 
There was no one within. 

"My grandmother is stolen !" 
cried Glooskap. 

Swiftly he ran around the wig- 
wam. On the side nearest the 
sea were tracks. 

He followed them; they led 
to the beach. There he saw 
what sad misfortune had over- 
taken his family. 

Putting out from shore in a canoe was Winpi, a 
sorcerer, Glooskap's enemy. Winpi's wife and babe 
were with him. In the stern sat Glooskap's 
grandmother and Abistanooch ; the grandmother 
was weeping. 

Glooskap strode angrily to the water's edge. 
"Wicked Winpi," he shouted, "bring back my 
grandmother and my younger brother !" 




GLOOSKAP AND THE WICKED WINPI 23 

But Winpi paid no heed to his words. He swung 
his canoe around and headed out to sea. 

Glooskap had two wonderful dogs. 1 One was 
white, the other black ; and they could grow small 
or big, as Glooskap bade 
them. 

Winpi had stolen these 
dogs, and they were with 
him in the canoe. They 
heard Glooskap's voice 
and began to bark. 

"Grandmothe r," 
shouted Glooskap, "send 
me back my dogs !" 

The grandmother 
stopped weeping. A 
wooden platter lay in the bottom of the canoe 2 ; 
into this she put the dogs, no bigger than mice, 
and set the platter on the water. 

The platter floated to land and Glooskap took 
it up. 

1 See Note 7. 2 See Note 8. 




24 




II. Glooskap sets off to ' " : V- 

SEEK WlNPI "=rV^r - 




Glooskap rested seven years before he followed 
Winpi. Why he waited, no one knows. It may 
be he did so to gain power. 1 To fight Winpi, he 
knew, was no child's play. 

At the end of seven years, Glooskap took his bow, 
hid his dogs under his coat, and set forth ; but he 
paused, and leaned a stick against his door. 
"Strangers will see the stick," he thought, "and 
know that no one is within." 

He went down to the beach and sang a song that 
the whales obey. A small black whale arose and 
came swimming in to land. 

Glooskap tried the whale's back with his foot. 
The whale sank ; Glooskap sent him away. 

Again he sang, and a great she whale arose in the 
ocean. She was Bootup, 2 hugest of all whales. 
Slowly she swam to shore. Glooskap leaped and 
stood upon her back. 

1 See Note 9. 2 B^ot-up 



GLOOSKAP AND THE WICKED WINPI 25 

"Whither shall I take you, grandson ?" asked 
the whale. 

"Along the coast; I seek Winpi !" answered 
Glooskap. 

Bootup headed to sea, and for hours bore the chief 
over the waves. 
Toward mid-after- 
noon, Glooskap 
wanted to land. 

"Grandmother," 
he called, "turn in 
toward the beach. I want to go ashore !" 

Bootup obeyed, but feared the shoals lying along 
the coast. She called to Glooskap, "Grandson, 
do you see land lying near ?" 

"No," he answered, "I see only deep water !" 

After a time the water grew shoal. Bootup saw, 
below, the white shells of the clams and cried in 
fear, "Grandson, do you not see the land stretching 
out like a bowstring ?" 

"No," he answered, "we are yet far from land." 

The water grew more shoal. Bootup could even 




26 INDIAN HERO TALES 

hear the clams singing. She asked Glooskap, 
"Grandson, what are they singing?" 
He answered her in a song : 

"They tell you to hurry, to hurry, 
To hurry me on 
O'er the water, the water, 
As fast as you can !" 

The song shamed Bootup, and she rushed through 

the water at the top of 
her speed. Suddenly 
she ran aground. 
Glooskap sprang safely 
to land ; but the whale 
lay stranded with her 
big head high on the 
beach. 

Tears came into Bootup's eyes. Sobbing, she 
sang : 

"Alas, grandson, 
You would be my death ! 
I cannot leave the land ; 
I shall swim the sea no more !" 




GLOOSKAP AND THE WICKED WINPI 27 

Glooskap laughed and again answered in a song : 

"Nay, grandmother, have no fear ! 
You shall swim the sea once more !" 

And with a push of his mighty bow, he sent the 
whale off into deep water. 

Bootup dived, but came up 
again, blowing gladly. Once 
more she swam near to shore. 
"Grandson," she called, "have 
you a pipe and tobacco ?" 

Glooskap lighted a short pipe, 
and put it in her mouth. The whale swam away, 
smoking as she went. 

To this day when a whale blows, the Indians say, 
"She is smoking Glooskap's pipe !" 1 
1 See Note 10. 




28 INDIAN HERO TALES 

III. Glooskap overcomes ^Vfc 
the Witches //^f^SvIt^ 

Glooskap went on afoot, and soon came to the 
ashes of a dead campfire. There were tracks about, 
and in the sand lay a broken birch dish. Glooskap 
picked it up ; it was the marten's. 

"Winpi camped here three months ago," thought 
Glooskap. He dropped the dish. "It shall go hard 
with Winpi when I 
find him ! " he cried. 

He went on. One 
day he came to a low 
hut. An old woman, 
ugly and in rags, sat 
within by a fire of 
sticks. She was a 
witch. 

She tried to look pleased 
when she saw Glooskap. "Come in !" she said. 
She begged Glooskap to fetch her some firewood. 1 
1 See Note n. 





GLOOSKAP AND THE WICKED WINPI 29 

Glooskap took her packing strap and fetched in 
a great load of sticks on his back. 

The witch heaped sticks on the fire and warmed 
Glooskap some broth. 1 He ate, and she sat by the 
fire, nodding ; the smoke 
made her sleepy. 

Glooskap put down 
the bowl, empty. The 
witch opened her eyes. 

"Grandson," she 
cried, "things creep in 
i my hair!" She bent her 
head ; Glooskap was as- 
tonished to see that her 
hair was full of live toads. 

"Kill them!" cried 
the witch. 

Glooskap would not do this, for he knew the 
toads' poison would enter his skin. He took them 
out and put them, one by one, under the empty 
bowl. The witch fell asleep. 

1 See Note 12. 




30 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



She awoke to find Glooskap gone. Her fire had 
died. The toads had overturned the bowl and were 
hopping out of the door. 

The witch sprang up in a rage. "Glooskap mocks 

me !" she cried ; 
and she rushed 
from the lodge. 

Glooskap saw her 
coming. He took 
out his dogs and 
put them on the 
ground, whispering, 
"Grow big !" 

The dogs grew to 
great size and slew 
the witch. 

Glooskap came 
next to a narrow pass between hills. Standing in 
the pass were two giant dogs, baying savagely. 

Glooskap put his own little dogs upon the ground. 
They, growing to great size, flew at the strange dogs 
and tore them into bits. 




GLOOSKAP AND THE WICKED WINPI 



31 



Farther on, Glooskap saw a tall wigwam with smoke 
curling upward. "An enemy is there !" he thought. 

He made his way to the wigwam and found an old 
man, with two grown-up 
daughters. The old man 
was a boooin. 1 

The boooin's daughters 
came out, saucily tossing 
their hair and laughing. 
They had strings of sau- 
sages on their arms. 

These sausages are made 
of bears' entrails, smoked, 
with the fat turned in. Indian girls think them a 
fit gift for their lovers. 

The two girls tried to throw the sausages over 
Glooskap's neck. "We make you a gift !" they 
cried. The sausages were bewitched. Had they 
fallen on Glooskap they would have held him fast. 

Glooskap answered not a word, but took out his 
dogs. "Grow big !" he whispered to them. 

1 boo-6-in. See Note 13. 




32 INDIAN HERO TALES 

He had taught his dogs, when he bade them be 
quiet, they should fight. When now they began to 
growl, Glooskap cried, "Kuss! 1 — Stop!" This 
the dogs knew as, "Seek, seek them !" They flew 

at the girls, who rose in 
their true shape, ugly 
witches. 

There was an awful bat- 
tle. The barking of the dogs 
and the witches' screams 
were like the noise of a 
storm. And all the time, 
Glooskap was calling, 
"Kuss, kuss! — Stop, stop !" At last the witches fled. 

Glooskap entered the wigwam. He found the 
father sitting with kettle ready; for boooins eat 
human flesh. 

Glooskap scornfully threw over him the magic 
sausages. "Eat these ! " he cried. 

Caught in bis own sausages, the boooin fell help- 
less ; and Glooskap slew him. 

N 

1 Kuss 




GLOOSKAP AND THE WICKED WINPI 





IV. Glooskap slays Winpi 



Glooskap went on, meeting no more foes. The 
way led him again to the sea. Far out he saw an 
island. "Winpi hides there," he thought. 

Once more he sang the whales' song. A black 
whale arose and bore him to the island. 

Hardly had he landed when he found remains 
of a forsaken camp. Tracks, still fresh, were in 
the sand ; and in the ashes of the fire a few coals 
were yet burn- 
ing. A new 
birch dish lay 
on the ground. 

It was the 
marten's ; and 
marks scratched 
upon it told Glooskap all he needed to know. 1 

"Winpi camped here last night," he thought. 

He hastened on, following the campers' trail. 
1 See Note 14. 

IND. HERO TALES 3 




34 INDIAN HERO TALES 

The way led him into the island. Toward evening, 
he saw the light of a camp fire. 

He was nearing the camp, when he heard the 
sound of a stick breaking. Softly he stole through 
the trees and looked. There was Abistanooch, 
gathering wood ; he looked starved, but his clothes 
were good. 1 

"Younger brother!" Glooskap called softly. 
Abistanooch did not hear. Smiling, Glooskap 
threw a chip ; it fell at the marten's feet. 

Abistanooch looked up. "A squirrel did it !" 

he thought ; and he went on 
gathering wood. 

Glooskap called again. The 
marten looked up, and saw 
him ; he was beside himself 
for joy. 

"Quiet, little brother !" said 
Glooskap. 

Abistanooch told him all 
that Winpi did ; how the Bear Woman had to scour 
1 See Note 15. 




GLOOSKAP AND THE WICKED WINPI 35 

pots while the marten fetched wood and cared 
for Winpi's babe. 



Abistanooch wept as he told 
this. He was ashamed to be a 
servant and do woman's work. 

Glooskap heard him and said : 




"Take your wood to camp. Winpi will ask you 
for a drink. Fetch muddy water and give to him. 
Then run hither V 

Abistanooch stooped and lifted his load. "I 
will do as you bid me !" he said. All happened as 
Glooskap said. Winpi asked for a drink. Abista- 
nooch fetched him a cup of foulest water. Winpi 
tasted it. 

" Uk, say ! 1 — Oh, dreadful ! " he cried. " Fetch 
me clean water !" 

Abistanooch threw the cup in his face. Winpi 
sprang to his feet ; but the little marten ran for 
the trees where Glooskap was hiding. 

"Help! elder brother!" he cried; he could hear 
Winpi coming. 

1 Uk say 



36 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



"Your brother is far away!" cried Winpi ; but 
even as he spoke, Glooskap stood before them. 
Winpi fell back, afraid. Then calling up all his 
power, he rose a great giant, until he stood above 
the tallest trees. 

Glooskap laughed aloud. "Behold!" he cried, 
and he began to grow. Taller he rose, and taller, 
until his head touched the clouds. 

"I am undone ! " cried 
Winpi ; and he covered 
his face. 

Glooskap reached down 
with his bow and tapped 
Winpi on the shoulders, 
as he would a little dog. 
Winpi fell dead. 

Glooskap went into 
the wigwam where Win- 
pi's wife sat, crying out with fear ; but all he said 
was, "Begone!" She took her babe and gladly 
went away. 




FIFTH TALE 
GLOOSKAP AND THE FRIENDLY LOONS 

When Glooskap was seeking Winpi, he came one 
day to a lake. He was standing, gazing at the 
water, when the sound of wings made him look up. 
A bird flew by, circled around the lake, and again 
passed Glooskap. As the bird flew by a third time, 
Glooskap called, "What do you want ?" 

"To be your servant !" said the bird. He told 
Glooskap his name was Kwemoo 1 and that he was 
chief of the loons. 

Afterwards, on Winpi's island, Glooskap came 
1 Kwe-moo 
37 



3 8 INDIAN HERO TALES 

upon a town of many lodges. 1 It was the loons' 
village. The island was their home. 

Chief Kwemoo and his people gladly welcomed 
Glooskap. They feasted him many days, dancing 
each night in the town lodge. The young men of 
the village gave him rich gifts. 

Glooskap was pleased with the loons. He made 
them his messengers ; and ever afterwards they 
were his faithful friends. 

He taught them a long, wild cry, like the howl of 
a wolf. "When you have need," he said, "make 
that cry, and I will come." 

Whenever the Indians hear a loon cry, they say, 
"Kwemoo is calling Glooskap I" 
1 See Note 16. 

0Er GL oqSK^I^S5^^X^ 



SIXTH TALE 



MIKCHICH, 1 GLOOSKAPS UNCLE 

I. MlKCHICH WINS A WlFE 

Glooskap did not call Bootup to take him from 
the island. He built a canoe and, with his family, 
paddled to the mainland. 

He landed at a place called Piktook, 2 or Bubbling 
Air, from air bubbles that rise in the water. A 
village was there of more than a hundred wigwams. 

Here Glooskap left his family. "I am going into 
the village," he told them. Abistanooch took the 
1 Mik-chich 2 Pik-took 

39 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



paddle and, with the old grandmother, went on 
down the coast. 

On the side of the village nearest the water stood 
a small, ill-built wigwam with a squat roof. There 
lived in it a man with withered face, old and ugly. 



always at the first lodge he finds. So it was that 
Glooskap, coming up from the beach, stopped at 
Mikchich's door. He pushed the door-skin aside, 
and entered. 

Mikchich looked up. His old face puckered into 
a smile, and he took his pipe from his mouth. 

"Kzvai!" 1 he cried, "Welcome ! Come and sit 




He was Mikchich, the 
turtle, and he dwelt alone. 
No one wanted him for a 
husband. "He is so ugly ! 
— we cannot bear to look 
at him !" the village maid- 
ens said. 



When an Indian comes 
to a strange town, he stops 



*Kwai 



MIKCHICH, GLOOSKAPS UNCLE 41 

back of the fire." 1 He dragged out a rush mat for 
Glooskap to sit upon. 

When they had smoked, Mikchich brought out 
dried moose meat and fat of bears' entrails. "We 
will feast, nephew !" he said; for Mikchich wished 
well to everybody, and thought nothing better than 
to have Glooskap call him uncle. 

It was soon noised that a handsome stranger had 
come to Mikchich's wigwam. All were eager to see 
him ; but Glooskap did not go to the village feasts. 
He liked to stay in the lodge and watch his uncle's 
quaint ways and hear his stories. 




1 See Note 17. 



42 INDIAN HERO TALES 

"Go, nephew," said his uncle, "or they will think 
you fear to enter the games V 9 

Glooskap laughed. "Why not go yourself, uncle ?" 
he asked. "It will be good to see the games. And 
the village maidens will be there ! You should 
think of winning you a wife." 

Mikchich sighed, and thrust the ashes from his 
pipe. He filled the bowl and held the stem to 
Glooskap. 

"Nephew," he said, "I am old and have little wit. 

And I am ugly, so that young 
women shun me. Better for me 
that I eat alone !" 

Glooskap sat, blowing little clouds 
from his nostrils. 

"Uncle," he said, "let me see if 
I cannot make you young !" 

The day of the feast came. 
Glooskap took off his belt and 
gave it to Mikchich. 

" Put on this belt, uncle !" he said. 
Mikchich did so. The wrinkles faded from his 




MIKCHICH, GLOOSKAFS UNCLE 43 

old face. His fat ankles grew slender. He became 
young again, and handsome. 

Glooskap lent him his own robe and leggings. 

"There, uncle," he said, "let us see what they 
will think of you !" 

Mikchich came to the feast, and all wondered 
to see so handsome a man. None leaped so nimbly, 
or ran so swiftly, in the games. 

Sitting with the women, watching the games, 
were the three bright-eyed daughters of the chief. 
The youngest, Mikchich thought, 
was the prettiest. He could *8 
hardly keep his eyes from her. 

At night, when he came home, \| 
he said to Glooskap, "Nephew, 
I have seen the maiden I want, 
but I fear she will not wed an 
old man like me !" 

Glooskap smiled. "We shall see, uncle !" he said. 

The next morning, Glooskap laid a great belt 
of wampum beads on his arm 1 and went to the 
1 See Note 18. 




44 INDIAN HERO TALES 

chiefs wigwam. He threw the belt at the chiefs 
feet. 

"My uncle, Mikchich, tires of dwelling alone !" 
he said. 

The chief sat, thoughtful. He called his wife. 
"Shall we give our daughter to Mikchich ?" he asked. 
"Yes," she answered. 

The chief called his youngest daughter to him. 
"Cook venison," he said. "Fetch boughs for your 
husband to sit upon." 

This she did. While the venison boiled, she 
gathered hemlock boughs and covered them with 
a skin, for a couch. When all was ready, she went 
to Mikchich's lodge and said, "I have come for you !" 

Mikchich arose and went with her to the chiefs 
wigwam. He sat on the couch, and the maiden gave 
him venison to eat. And so they were wed. 



MIKCHICH, GLOOSKAP'S UNCLE 45 




Mikchich wanted to give a feast. "It is for my 
wedding," he told Glooskap. 

"Make it a big feast, uncle/' his nephew said; 
and to this end he gave Mikchich great power. 

"Go down to the rocks, by the sea," Glooskap 
bade him. "There you will see a number of whales 
swimming. Catch one of them, and fetch it hither ; 
but do not bring it farther than the sand heap 
before your door !" 

All this Mikchich did, for Glooskap's belt gave 
him strength. He caught a fat whale by the tail, 
and drew it, struggling and bellowing, from the 
water. The villagers were astonished to see him 
come back with the whale, still struggling, on his 
back. 

Mikchich was much puffed up to see that all had 
their eyes upon him. He forgot Glooskap's warn- 
ing. 



46 INDIAN HERO TALES 

"The whale is not heavy/' he thought; "I will 
take it into my wigwam !" But when he came to 
the sand heap, he stumbled ; and the whale, falling 

on him, crushed him flat. 
The villagers ran 
and rolled the whale 
off Mikchich. "He 
is dead !" they cried. 
They told Glooskap. 

Glooskap laughed. 
"Cut up the whale," 
he said. "Mikchich 
will live !" 

They cut up the whale as they were directed, and 
made ready the feast ; and they were sitting down 
to eat, when in came Mikchich, none the worse for 
having been dead. 

"I have slept !" he said ; and he stretched his legs 
and yawned. 

After this the villagers feared Glooskap. 

The turtle's shell is still flat, where the whale 
crushed it. 




MIKCHICH, GLOOSKAP'S UNCLE 47 




The young men of the village took it ill that 
Mikchich had wed the chiefs daughter. "Ugly, 
lazy man !" they said. "We thought one of us 
should win her." They talked of it until they hated 
Mikchich ; and they plotted to kill him. 

Mikchich lived with his wife, in her father's 
lodge. Glooskap came to him. 

"Uncle," he said, "the young men plot to kill you !" 

"How will they kill me ?" Mikchich asked. 

"They will ask you to play a game of ball," 1 
said Glooskap. "The ball will be rolled toward 
your father-in-law's lodge ; as you run to catch it 
up, the players will try to trample you. They seek 
to slay you before your door!" 

Mikchich sat, thoughtful. "What shall I do, 
nephew ?" he asked. 

"Wear my belt," said Glooskap. "It will give 
1 See Note 19. 



4 8 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



you power to leap over the wigwam. Twice you 
will leap safely. The third time you will be caught 
on the poles !" 

All happened as he said. The young men asked 
Mikchich to a game of ball. The ball rolled toward 

his lodge, and Mikchich 
ran to get it, when the 
players crowded upon 
him to trample him ; 
but Mikchich made a 
leap and sailed high 
over the wigwam. He 
came down safely. 

Again the ball rolled 
toward his lodge ; and 
again Mikchich went 
sailing over the wigwam. 
The third time, he fell short. The poles caught 
him and he hung dangling over the smoke hole. 

Much frightened, he looked down and saw Gloos- 
kap sitting inside. "Help, nephew," he cried. 
"Take me down !" 




MIKCHICH, GLOOSKAP'S UNCLE 



49 



"Nay, uncle," answered Glooskap, "you must 
hang in the smoke. 1 It will make 
tough !" And he heaped fir branches or 
fire, making a great 

Mikchich was 
strangled. " Nephew, 
cried, "you will kill 
me !" He coughed 
and choked with the 
hot smoke. 

"It is for your 
good," said Gloos- 
kap. "Hereafter 
you may go through flame, and it will not hurt you. 
You may live on land or in water. And you may 
go a long time without eating ! " 

When Mikchich was nearly dead with the smoke, 
Glooskap took him down. The turtle's skin had 
been made hard and brown by the smoke. 

When Mikchich got his breath again, he thanked 
Glooskap. 

1 See Note 20. 




IND. HERO TALES 4 



INDIAN HERO TALES 




But for all his skin was so tough, and he had a 
wife, Mikchich could not forget his old ways. He 
was still lazy, wishing well to everybody. 

Autumn came. The men of the village were hunt- 
ing, while the women dried meat 1 and stored it by for 
winter ; but lazy Mikchich sat by his fire and smoked. 

With the first snow, there was feasting and merry- 
making in the village ; but in Mikchich's lodge 
was nothing to eat. 

His wife was in a rage. "Lazy man," she cried, 
"the young men hunt to-day. Go you and kill us 
meat, before we starve !" 

Mikchich arose with a sigh. He put on his snow- 
shoes and started off after the hunters ; but he was 
so awkward that he tripped and fell in the snow. 

His wife was watching him from the wigwam 
door. "Awkward man !" she cried. 

1 See Note 21. 



MIKCHICH, GLOOSKAP'S UNCLE 



51 



She went into the wigwam. "My husband/' she 
said to her mother, "is lazy; and he is so awk- 
ward that he trips on 
%m his snowshoes !" 

Her mother remem- 




bered how Mik- §j§ 
chich had leaped 1|C 
over the wigwam. '"f^jl? 
"Wait, daughter," 
she said. 

The young men, looking back, saw Mikchich 
stumble. They laughed to see his fat body roll 
in the snow. 

"Awkward Mikchich !" they cried. "He is fat be- 
cause he is lazy !" They went on, leaving him behind. 

Mikchich struggled through the snow, puffing and 
blowing, but could not overtake the hunters. They 
disappeared in the forest. 



5 2 INDIAN HERO TALES 

But Mikchich was stout hearted. He bethought 
him of his flight over the wigwam. "I have on my 
nephew's belt," he said to himself. 

He bent his legs, made a leap, and went sailing 
high over the heads of the others. They were 
laughing and telling one another of Mikchich, and 
did not see him. 

Mikchich came down far away in the forest. He 
found tracks in the snow, followed them, and soon 
came upon a fat cow moose. 1 He killed her and 
dragged the carcass to a path where the hunters 
must pass. 

After a time the others came up. They saw 
Mikchich sitting on the dead moose, smoking his 
pipe. " I have waited for you !" he said gravely. 

1 See Note 22. 



MIKCHICH, GLOOSKAP'S UNCLE 53 





V. MlKCHICH GOES THROUGH lj| 

Fire and Water 



The time came when Glooskap had to leave 
Mikchich. 

"I go, uncle," he said, "to my family. When 
I am gone, the young men will try again to slay 
you ; but I think since you hung in the smoke, they 
will find it a hard thing to do !" 

As Glooskap said, no sooner was he gone than 
the young men began to think how they might kill 
Mikchich. "Glooskap," they said, "cannot help 
him now !" Again they plotted to slay him. 

They fetched wood, and when night came, they 
made a great fire at one end of the village. They 
hid by Mikchich's door ; and in the morning when 
he came out, they seized him and dragged him to 
the fire. "We are going to burn you !" they cried. 

Mikchich said nothing. "The fire," he thought, 
"cannot be hotter than when my nephew smoked 
me !" He had on Glooskap's belt. 



54 INDIAN HERO TALES 

With much straining, the young men lifted the 
turtle to their shoulders and heaved him into the 

fire. He fell in the 
coals, on his back. 
Red sparks flew up. 
Then flames closed 
over Mikchich and 
hid him. 

But Mikchich was 
not dead. It was 
good, he found, to 
lie in the warm 
ashes. "They make 
a soft bed V he 
thought. 

He drew in his legs and hid his head in his shell. 
He yawned, and closed his eyes. 

The fire burned all that day and into the night. 
The young men were in high glee. All night they 
danced by the firelight, 1 singing : 

"Mikchich is dead, is dead!" 
1 See Note 23. 




MIKCHICH, GLOOSKAPS UNCLE 



55 



Toward morning the flames died down. The 
young men were making ready to go when they 
heard a voice calling them. It was Mikchich. He 
had waked and was sitting in the ashes, shivering. 

"I am cold !" he cried. "Heap wood on the 
fire!" 

The young men were in a rage. "If you will not 
burn," they cried, "you shall drown !" They 
dragged the turtle 
out of the ashes 
and rolled him, like 
a stone, to the sea. 

Morning had ~^0s5^B^ 
come. It was grow- - 
ing light. 

Mikchich strug- 
gled hard. "Do not drown me !" he cried. "Burn 
me, — do not drown me!" He dragged up rocks 
and tore bark from the trees, with his feet. 

The young men laughed aloud. "Mikchich is 
afraid !" they cried. 

They tumbled him into a canoe and paddled out 





56 INDIAN HERO TALES 

to deep water. There they dropped him over- 
board. 

Slowly the turtle sank from sight. The young 
men waited ; a few bubbles arose on the water. 

"He is dead!" said they; and they paddled 
back to shore. 

Day came ; and at noon, a hot sun was shining. 
Some villagers were walking on the beach, talking 
of Mikchich's drowning. 

"What is that ?" asked one suddenly. 

The others looked. On a rock that rose out of 
the water, lay something round, like a muddy stone. 

Two men got into a canoe and paddled out to the 
rock. There they saw Mikchich sunning himself. 

The turtle raised his head. "Good-by !" he 
called. And he plumped off into the water. 



SEVENTH TALE 
GLOOSKAP AND KITPOOSAGUNO 1 

Glooskap overtook his family not many days 
after he left Mikchich. The marten had made a 
camp on the beach. He had dragged the canoe 
out of the water and turned it over for a shelter. 

A fire burned on the sand. The old grandmother 
was broiling fish on the coals. 

The little marten welcomed Glooskap. "I am 
glad you have come, elder brother," he said. "It is 
hard for me to steer the canoe alone !" 

The next morning Glooskap and Abistanooch 
1 Kit-poos-a-gun-6 
57 



58 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



dragged the canoe to wa- 
ter. All got in ; Gloos 
kap pushed off. 

"Whither do we go ?' 
asked his old grandmother 

"To visit Kitpoosa 
guno, on his island," an 
swered Glooskap. 

A gale was blowing, b 
Glooskap paddled, and 
canoe rode the sea like 
feather. The pitching 
the boat made the old 
Woman drowsy ; and sh 
curled up in the stern 
and went to sleep. 
Glooskap could hear 
her snore above the ^ 
noise of the wind. 

The sun was set- 
ting when the island rose 
in sight. It was high and 




GLOOSKAP AND KITPOOSAGUNO 59 

rocky ; but on one side was a bay, shut in between 
cliffs. Thither Glooskap steered, into smooth water. 

" Awake, grandmother," he cried as he sprang 
ashore. 

Kitpoosaguno heard the voices and came has- 
tening down to the beach. 

" Kwai!" he roared. "Welcome, friends ! Come 
to my wigwam. Come and we will feast !" 

Kitpoosaguno was a giant, and his wigwam was 
like a mountain. He was Glooskap's friend. Both 
made war on the kookwesses 1 who had slain the 
good giant's mother. 

Kitpoosaguno led his friends into his wigwam. 
All that evening they feasted, and into the night. 
In the morning the giant set his pot a-boiling, and 
they feasted again. When night fell, the giant 
said, "Let us go on the sea and spear fish by torch- 
light r 

"Shall we spear salmon ?" asked Glooskap. 
"Nay!" roared the giant. "Let us spear whales !" 
"It is good sport," laughed Glooskap. 

1 kook-wess-es 



60 INDIAN HERO TALES 

The giant lighted a torch of pitch and led the 
way to the beach. 

In the sand near the water lay a large rock. 

The giant stooped, 
and felt of it with his 
hands. 

"This shall be our 
boat !" he roared. 
He lifted the rock to 
his head ; it became 
a canoe. 

By the torch's 
light, he found a long, 
flat stone ; and it be- 
came a paddle. With 
a round stone for a 
hammer, he struck a splinter from the edge of the 
cliff ; and it became a spear. 

The giant put the canoe from his head and pushed 
it out into the water. 

"Who will take the paddle ?" he asked. 
"I !" said Glooskap. 




GLOOSKAP AND KITPOOSAGUNO 



61 



"I will take the spear !" laughed the giant. 

They stepped aboard. As they stood, side by side 
in the torchlight, Glooskap seemed almost as tall as 
the giant. 

Kitpoosaguno bound the torch to the bow of the 
canoe. He took his spear, ready to strike. 

Glooskap dipped his paddle ; the canoe swung away. 

A shield of bark was put over the torch, that 
its flame might not 
blind the giant's 
eyes. By the light 
that fell on the 
water, the two men 
could see fish swim- 
ming in the bottom 
of the sea. 

They had not been 
out long, when they 
passed over a huge 
black mass that 
moved. It was a 
great whale. 




62 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Kitpoosagimo hurled his spear. "A strike," he 
roared, "a strike !" 

He caught the handle as it came up and raised the 
whale aloft, whirling it above his head like a minnow. 
The whale bellowed* and squirmed upon the spear. 
"Good fishing !" the giant roared. 
He drew the whale off the point of his spear and 
tossed it into the canoe. The whale struggled, 
beating and lashing with its tail. The giant roared 
with delight. 

Glooskap steered to shore. The giant shouldered 
the dead whale and sprang out on the sand. He 
led the way to his wigwam ; Glooskap followed 
with the torch. 

Kitpoosaguno spitted the whale over the fire to 
roast. His spit was a pine tree, lopped of branches. 

When the meat steamed, the 
giant took the whale from the 
spit. "Your knife I" he said. 
Glooskap handed him his 
stone knife ; and the giant split the steaming whale 
in twain. 




I GLOOSKAP AND KITPOOSAGUNO 63 

"A good feast !" he roared ; and he and Glooskap 
ate the whale between them. 

Kitpoosaguno, his stomach filled, was full of 
frolic. He went to the door, raised the skin, and 
put out his head. Twilight had faded, but there 
was a little red in the sky. The giant came back. 

"The sky is red !" he roared. "We shall have 
cold to-night !" He looked at his friend, and 
laughed. 

Glooskap knew what he meant. Kitpoosaguno 
was going to bring cold by magic. 

"Let us have a good fire !" Glooskap said, smil- 
ing. 

Then he bade Abistanooch fetch in wood for 
the fire. The marten did so, un- 
til he had a heap higher . 
than a tree, be- 
side the door. 

The giant had 
killed a porpoise 
the day before ; 
I and he had tried 

1 

\ 




64 INDIAN HERO TALES 

out the oil into two great kettles, that stood by the 
door. 

" Pour the oil on the wood ; it will make it burn V 
roared the giant ; he was full of glee. 

The marten emptied the kettles over the wood. 
He heaped sticks on the fire, and the flames went 




roaring upward to the smoke hole. Glooskap and 
the giant sat, smoking and telling tales. 1 

The fire gave little heat. The oil burned fiercely, 
but icy air came rushing down the smoke hole. 
Abistanooch and the old grandmother sat shivering. 

At midnight the fire burned down. The marten 
1 See Note 24. 



GLOOSKAP AND KITPOOSAGUNO 65 

froze to death. The old grandmother groaned, 
sank on the floor, and died. The wigwam poles 
cracked, and rocks split with the frost. 

Glooskap and the giant talked on. 

The sun rose on the morrow, yellow and shining. 
The giant yawned ; he thrust the ashes from his 
pipe and rose to his feet. 

Glooskap went to where the marten lay. "Up, 
little brother/' he called. "Awake, grandmother !" 

The old Bear Woman arose and put the pot on 
the fire, for breakfast. 

The pot boiled, the meal was eaten, and the giant 
took down his bow. 

"Let us go hunting!" he roared. He strode 
from the wigwam ; Glooskap followed him. 

The game, that day, seemed to know Glooskap 
and the giant were out hunting. Flocks of ducks 
rose from the lakes and flew away. The deer fled 
into the forest. 

The hunters got only a small beaver that Gloos- 
kap killed. 

They skinned the beaver, and the giant tied its 

IND. HERO TALES 5 



66 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



pelt to his garter ; it hung dangling at his knee, 
like a mouse skin. As the giant walked, the pelt 
grew and grew, until it 
broke away by its weight. • 

"It is a big skin !" 
roared the giant, laughing. JJ| 

He twisted a sapling 
into a withe and tied the 
pelt to his waist. Still 
the skin grew, until 
it tore a roadway N « 
through the forest, 
uprooting trees in 
its path. 

The hunters 
reached home at 
nightfall. They put out in their canoe and again 
speared whales. As they came in from their fish- 
ing, Glooskap said: "The sky is red. I think we 
shall have cold to-night !" 

The giant understood. "Good!" he roared; 
and his laugh shook the cliffs. 




GLOOSKAP AND KITPOOSAGUNO 67 

They returned to the wigwam. Again the mar- 
ten brought in wood. The old grandmother even 
fetched skins for the men to wrap them in. 

It was colder this time. Before midnight the 
fire had burned out. Soon the little marten died. 
The old grandmother lay on her back with her 
eyes shut, frozen. Even the giant shivered under 
his robe. 

Glooskap talked on, caring nothing for the cold. 

Morning came at last. Glooskap brought the 
marten and the old Bear Woman back to life, took 
leave of the good giant, and went away. 



EIGHTH TALE 
THE LITTLE LADS AND THE KOOKWESSES 

The kookwesses that slew Kitpoosaguno's 
mother were giants. They were a wicked folk. 
Their bodies were covered with hair, and they 
hunted men ; but they had not much wit. 

When Glooskap was on Kitpoosaguno's island, a 
thing happened that made a great noise in the land. 

Some little lads had gone out to hunt birds. A 
kookwess saw the boys. "They are fat !" he 
thought; "I will call them to me." He began to 
drum on his breast like a cock partridge. 

The lads heard the drumming. "A partridge !" 

68 



THE LITTLE LADS AND THE KOOKWESSES 69 

they cried ; and they stole through the forest with 
arrows drawn. 

The kookwess was hidden in a hollow. The boys 
were almost upon him when the giant rose, caught 
the lads and dropped them, 
one by one, upon a stone, to 
kill them. 

The giant had none too 
much wit. What he thought 
was a stone was an ant hill. 
The boys were only stunned. 

The kookwess tossed the 
lads into the boochkajoo, 1 or 
bark basket on his back, and started home. The 
jolting of the basket brought the boys out of their 
swoon. They sat up. One began to weep. 

"Do not weep !" said the eldest. "Let us try 
to get out of the basket !" 

They drew together, talking in whispers. 

One of the boys had a knife. "Let us cut a hole 
in the basket," he said. 

1 booch-ka-joo. See Note 25. 




70 



INDIAN HERO TALES 

"But do not let the 



"Good !" said the eldest, 
kookwess hear us !" 

They waited until the giant was passing through 

the thickest part of the 
forest. The scraping 
of the basket against 
the tree tops drowned 
the noise of the knife. 

The boys soon cut a 
hole big enough. One 
by one, they dropped 
to the ground. The 
eldest dropped last. 

The giant was so 
strong that he did not 
feel how light the bas- 
ket had become. 

When he got home, 
he put down the basket by his door, and went in. 
An older kookwess was sitting by the fire. 

"Father," said the other, "I bring game to-day ! " 
The elder giant got up, and both went outside. 




THE LITTLE LADS AND THE KOOKWESSES 71 

They raised the lid of the basket. The boys were 
gone ! 

The younger giant made a great howl. "We 
shall go to bed hungry !" he bawled. 

His father led him into the wigwam. "We have 
a little meat, son/' he said. He raked coals out 
of the ashes and spitted the meat, to roast it. 

The lads meanwhile had reached home. Their 
story made a great stir in the village. 

Friends and kinsmen caught up bows and ran to 
the hollow where the giant had hidden. They fol- 
lowed his trail by the trees broken down in his 
path. 

They reached the giants' wigwam at sundown. 
Through cracks in the bark roof, they saw the two 
giants sitting, waiting for their meal to cook. 

Pitt! — an arrow came flitting through the bark 
covering of the wigwam. It struck the kookwess 
who had carried off the children. 

He put up his hand and felt his side. "It hurts 
me here !" he said. He thought he had a stitch. 

But pin! — another arrow struck him, and 



7 2 INDIAN HERO TALES 

another. The kookwess slipped down on the floor. 
His eyes closed. 

"Do you sleep, son ?" the elder asked. 

As he spoke, pitt! — an arrow struck him also. 
A sharp pain went through him. His head swam. 
He fell over on his side. 

The Indians rushed in. The two giants were 
dead. 



NINTH TALE 
GLOOSKAP AND THE WITCHES 

Some of the forest folk envied Glooskap, and 
about this time rose up against him. "Why should 
we obey Glooskap ?" they asked. They forgot 
the many times he had come to their help. 

A council was called. Runners were sent through- 
out the land, and the people came flocking in from 
every part. 

They met in a long lodge. 1 The old men and 
warriors sat in the back ; the women and children, 
on the left of the door. 

1 See Note 26. 

73 



74 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



Some have it that Mikchich was chief of the 
council ; but this is not true. Mikchich loved his 
nephew and was faithful to him while he lived. 



The people feasted, and there was much speaking, 
^f^lgll^^ Some cried, "We 



on. He smiled that any should think to slay him. 

The third day of the council, a strange old woman 
came into the lodge. She was bent, and walked 
with a stick ; and her thin, gray hair fell in her eyes. 

It was Glooskap dressed in his grandmother's 
skirt, with his hair falling loose. 

No one offered the stranger a seat. She came 




will slay Gloos- 
kap !" Others 
said, "No, let us 
put him down 
from being our 
chief!" Few 
had any good to 
say of him. 



Glooskap knew, 
all that was going 



GLOOSKAP AND THE WITCHES 75 

and sat down between two witches, the Toad 
Woman and the Porcupine Woman ; they were 
listening to the speeches. 1 

The stranger sat awhile, silent. At last she asked 
humbly, "You think to slay Glooskap; but will that 
be easy to do ?" 

The witches 
were angered that 
the stranger 
should speak to 
them. They 
scowled at her. 

"What is that 
to you ?" said the 
Toad Woman, 
rudely. 

The stranger shrunk back. "I meant no harm," 
she said softly. 

Presently she arose. Leaning on her stick, she 
gently touched the tips of the witches' noses. Then 
she went away. 

1 See Note 27. 




76 - INDIAN HERO TALES 

The speaking ended. The two witches looked 
up ; and each saw that the other's nose was gone. 

Screaming in terror, they rushed out and ran 
to a pool. They bent over the water and looked. 
Their noses were flat ! 

So it came that the toad and the porcupine lost 
their noses ; and they have none to this day ! 



TENTH TALE 
GLOOSKAP AND POKINSKWESS 

After this, Glooskap went to live with a village 
of Indians called Pogumks, 1 or Fishers. The vil- 
lagers welcomed him. "You bring us luck/' they 
said. "Our nets never brought up so many fish !" 
They even made him their chief. 

But there was one in the village who spoke no 
good of Glooskap. This was Pokinskwess 2 ; and 
he was full of envy because he wanted to be chief 
himself. He thought long how he might slay 
Glooskap or put him out of the village. 

1 Po-gumks 2 P6k-in-skwess 

77 



78 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Spring came, and the villagers were making ready 
to move camp. All was bustle and noise among 
the wigwams. Dogs were yelping. Children were 
running about. The women were rolling up the 
bark coverings of their lodges 
to load upon their backs. 

Pokinskwess came to Glooskap. 
"The camp is not yet ready to 
march, " he said. "Let us go to 
yonder island and gather gulls' 
eggs." He pointed to an island 
off the coast. 

Glooskap was willing. He went 
down to the beach with Pokin- 
skwess, and they launched a canoe. Glooskap 
held the boat while Pokinskwess got in. They 
paddled to the island. 

There was no beach to land upon. The island 
was but a rocky cliff, rising in the water. The 
gulls' nests were in clefts of the rock overhead. 

Many of the gulls had young, and were bringing 
them food. 




GLOOSKAP AND POKINSKWESS 



79 



Pokinskwess brought his canoe around to the 
foot of the cliff. 

"Who shall climb for the 
eggs ?" he asked. 

"I," said Glooskap. 

"I will stay to guard the 
canoe," said Pokinskwess. 

Glooskap climbed up the 
cliff. He had a basket on his 
back, and into it he put the 
eggs. The gulls flew about him 
in a white cloud. They made 
a great outcry. 

Pokinskwess sat in the ca- 
noe, paddle in hand. When 
Glooskap was but a speck on 
the cliff, Pokinskwess softly 
stole away. 

He reached home just as 
the villagers were setting off. 
They wondered why Glooskap did not come with 
them. Pokinskwess said nothing. 




80 INDIAN HERO TALES 

At night, the villagers made camp and awaited 
Glooskap. When he did not come, the old men made 
Pokinskwess chief in his stead. 

Glooskap, meanwhile, could find no way to leave 
the island. But he did not fear ; he had gulls' 
eggs to eat, and in a hollow in the rocks he found 
rain water. He could not starve. 

"The sea serpent will help me !" said Glooskap 
at last. And he began to sing : 

"Sea serpent, grandfather under the ocean, 
I, Glooskap, call you !" 

The sea serpent was old and fat and lazy ; and 
he lay asleep on the bottom of the ocean. 
The song waked him ; he raised his head. 
"I thought I heard my grandson singing," he said. 
He listened. Again he heard the song. 



GLOOSKAP AND POKINSKWESS 8 1 

The old serpent wriggled his tail, and began to 
swim upward in the water. He came out not far 
from the island, and soon lay at the foot of the 
cliff, where the canoe had been. 

"I am here, grandson !" he called. 

Glooskap had his robe belted about him for the 
wind was chill upon the cliff. In the folds of his 
robe he made a pocket and dropped two round 
stones within. He climbed down the cliff and 
leaped astride the serpent's back. 

"Take me to land, grandfather!" he cried. 

The serpent bent his tail and went wriggling 
over the sea. But he was old and lazy. There 
had been a calm ; now waves rolled, for Pokin- 
skwess had raised a storm. It was hard for the 
serpent to swim. Slower he wriggled, and slower. 
He almost stopped. 

Glooskap took a stone from the pocket of his 
robe. He threw it with all his strength, and whack ! 
— it struck one of the serpent's yellow horns. 

"Grandson," cried the sea serpent, "spare my 
horn !" 

IND. HERO TALES 6 



82 INDIAN HERO TALES 




ming was hard : and he had a longing to rest. He 
stretched out on the water, when whack ! — a stone 
struck his other horn. 



"Grandson," he cried again, "spare my horn V s 
Glooskap laughed aloud. "Do not sleep, grand- 
father !" he cried. 

At last they came to land. Glooskap sprang 
ashore, and the serpent dived to the bottom of the 
ocean. 

Glooskap was soon at the place where the village 
had stood. Xight was coming on ; he crept under 
a shelter of branches and slept. 



GLOOSKAP AND POKINSKWESS 



83 



Early the next morning he found the villagers' trail 
and followed it. In a few days, he knew he was 



strapped in a cradle, like a babe. 1 They looked 
starved and weak. 

From his place on her back, Abistanooch saw 
Glooskap coming through the trees, and cried out, 
"Grandmother, I see my elder brother !" 

The old grandmother turned, but Glooskap had 
hid. "Foolish one," she cried, "Glooskap is not 
here !" Tears came into her eyes. 



nearing their camp. 
One afternoon, he 
overtook them on the 
march. 




The very first one 
he saw was his old 
grandmother, hobbling 
along on a stick. She 
was lame and had 
fallen behind. On her 
back was Abistanooch, 



1 See Note 28. 



8 4 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



A little way on, Abistanooch cried again, " Grand- 
mother, I see my brother !" 

The old Bear Woman turned quickly and saw 
Glooskap. She cried out and danced for joy, 
dropping the little marten from her back. He crept 
from his cradle, and all stood and laughed. 

Abistanooch told his brother all the evil Pokin- 
skwess did him. "He makes me serve him," he said. 

"All night I care for 
his babe !" 

Glooskap told him 
what he should do. 
"Go into camp," he 
said. "Build a hot 
fire of hemlock bark. 
Catch up Pokin- 
skwess's babe and 
make as if you would 
throw it in the fire. 
Then run to me !" 
All this the marten did. He caught up the babe, 
and Pokinskwess sprang at him in wrath. 




GLOOSKAP AND POKXNSKWESS 



85 



Abistanooch fled. "Help, elder brother !" he 
cried. 



your evil ways," cried 

Glooskap ; and he hurled Pokinskwess with his 
back against a tree. 

Pokinskwess stuck fast to the trunk. Glooskap 
and Abistanooch went on into the camp, laughing. 

Pokinskwess carried a hatchet and wedge 1 in his 
belt. With these he set to cutting himself loose ; 
and all that night they in camp could hear him 



"Glooskap cannot 
help you," cried Pokin- 
skwess. Glooskap 
stepped from behind a 
tree. "I am here," 
he cried. 



Fear came into Pokin- 
skwess's eyes. "I but 
ran at Abistanooch in 
sport !" he said. 



"I know you and 




1 See Note 29. 



86 INDIAN HERO TALES 

pounding and chopping at the wood. In the morn- 
ing they saw that he had a great lump of wood on 
his b'ack. All mocked him, and the women cried : 
" Pokinskwess forsook Glooskap ; and now he has 
a lump of wood on his back ! " 

Pokinskwess fled, mad with shame. "Men mock 
me !" he said aloud. "Would I were something 
to bite and sting them forever !" 

As he spoke, lo, he shrunk small as his own wicked 
soul ! His mouth grew long, like a sting. His 
arms became wings. He became a mosquito, that 
bites and stings men. On the mosquito's back is 
a lump, like a wedge of wood. 



ELEVENTH TALE 
PULOWECH, 1 GLOOSKAP'S FRIEND 

I. PULOWECH GETS HlM A WlFE 

Pulowech, the partridge, and his cousin Wejek 2 
were hunters. They had a camp by a lake, where 
maple and ash trees grew. Pulowech was Glooskap's 
friend. 

The cousins were not alike. Pulowech was slow 
to speak, and did nothing in a hurry. Wejek was 
younger ; he had a good heart, but he was hasty. 

One day in winter, Pulowech was walking by the 
lake. As he came around a rock, he saw three 
1 Pul-6-wech. See Note 30. 2 We-jek 
87 



88 INDIAN HERO TALES 

girls sitting by an air hole in the ice ; they were 
braiding their hair and laughing. 

Pulowech stood watching them. "They are 
water maidens," he thought, and a longing filled 

his soul. "I will 
steal one and 
have her for my 
wife," he said 
softly. "She shall 
keep my pot boil- 
ing for me !" And 
he stole over the 
ice toward the 
girls. 

A hard snow lay 
on the ice. Pulo- 
wech was almost up to the girls when his foot 
crunched through the snow, making a noise. One 
of the maidens looked up. 

"Oo!" she cried. "I see a man!" And all 
plumped head-first into the water. 

Pulowech went slowly home. He could not put 




PULOWECH, GLOOSKAP'S FRIEND 89 

the youngest of the girls out of his mind. "Her 
teeth were like shells !" he thought ; and he sighed. 

But Pulowech was not a man who gave up easily. 

He was up before daylight, and went again to the 
lake, where he gathered fir boughs and craftily 
strewed them about the shore. "The water maid- 
ens will think the wind blew them there," he said 
to himself. 

He laid one bough far out on the ice ; under it he 
crept and hid, waiting for morning. 

The sun arose. Pulowech peeped out and saw 
the water in the hole all golden in the light. 

Soon a pretty head popped up in the water, then 
another, and another ; and three merry maidens, 
laughing, clambered 
up on the ice. They 
unbound and began 
to braid their hair. 

Pulowech crept 
from under the fir bough and ran towards the maid- 
ens. Again, one hearing his steps, cried out, "Oo! 
I see a man !" And all went head-first under the ice. 




90 INDIAN HERO TALES 

But Pulowech did not go away empty-handed. 
In her haste, the youngest of the girls had dropped 
her hairstring, and it lay on the ice. Pulowech 
picked it up. 

"She will come to me !" he thought. "Her life 
is in the string !" 

In his wigwam, he tied the hairstring to the tent 
pole, above the place where he 
sat. He filled his pipe and 
waited. 

In a little while there came 
footsteps. Gently the door-skin 
was pushed aside and the maiden 
entered. She saw the hairstring. 
Tears were in her eyes, but she 
smiled. 

She went to the fire and knelt 
to stir the coals. Then she 
put water in the pot, and dried meat, and set 
it on the fire to boil. 

Pulowech, watching her, smiled softly. He knew 
she would have him for her husband. 




PULOWECH, GLOOSKAP'S FRIEND 



91 




II BOOOINS STEAL PULOWECH 

~- Wife 




Boooins and witches were then in the land. Pulo- 
wech never left his wife alone, fearing they might 
find her and steal her from him. 

But a time came when he had to leave her. 
Wejek was gone. There was little to eat in the 
wigwam, and Pulowech had to hunt or his wife 
would go hungry. He 
made ready to go. 

"Open to no one," 
he told his wife, "af- 
ter the sun sets. The - 
boooins cannot enter 
while the door is fast !" 

"I will not open," 
she said. 

Pulowech started off. 
Before the sun went down, his wife fetched in a 
heap of wood for the night. She drew the door 
and made it fast with a thong. 




92 INDIAN HERO TALES 

She stirred up the fire, put on wood, and lay 
down. The blaze was warm and pleasant. It was 
cold outside. 

At midnight a wind arose. The little wife awoke. 
There was a noise as of scraping at the door ; she 
listened. 

"Open !" said a voice. 

"No," she answered bravely; but her heart beat 
fast. 

And well might she be frightened. The voice 
was of an old boooin ; he had come, with his friends, 
to take her. 

The boooin changed his voice, speaking now 
like her sister, now like her brother, "Open, dear 
sister !" 

She would not open. 

Again the boooin changed his voice. The little 
wife thought that she heard her mother, then her 
old father, calling to her, "Open, daughter; I am 
weary and cold !" 

Her heart ached. She ran to the door and untied 
the thong. 



PULOWECH, GLOOSKAP'S FRIEND 93 

The old boooin sprang into the wigwam. "Take 
her!" he screamed; and his friends dragged her 
away into the forest. 

Far off, they built a fire and fetched drums, and 
passed the night feasting and singing. When they 
departed, nothing was 
left of the little wife. 

That same morning, 
Wejek came home. He 
wondered to see tracks 
about the door. He 
stooped and looked at 
them. 

"They are boooins' 
tracks !" he cried. 

He ran into the wigwam. It was empty. 

"My cousin's wife is stolen !" cried Wejek; and 
he ran out, following the boooins' trail. 

He overtook the boooins just as they were leav- 
ing their feast. 

They fell upon him with cries. Wejek fought ; 
but in the end, they slew him. 




94 



INDIAN HERO TALES 




PULOWECH SLAYS THE 

Boooins _. .. 




The evening of the same day, Pulowech came 
home, loaded with venison. His heart sank when he 
found his wigwam empty. 

"Wife, wife !". he called. There was no answer. 
Wejek's knife lay on the floor. 

Pulowech did not act hastily. He made a fire, 
ate, and spread his robe to sleep ; but before he lay 
^ y t>i '.jWj ( yL down, he set a wooden 

z'< bowl in the back of the 
wigwam and filled it 
with water. 

In the morning when 
he looked, the bowl was 
full of blood ; and Pulo- 
wech knew that his wife 
and cousin were slain. 
""^^ "I will find them who 

did it !" he cried, as he caught up his bow and 
hatchet. 




PULOWECH, GLOOSKAFS FRIEND 95 

The boooins' tracks were not new, but nothing 
escaped Pulowech's eyes ; he followed the trail, un- 
wearied. 

He had not gone many days, when he came to a 
cliff overhanging the way. He was passing under, 
when he looked up and saw a man's knee sticking 
out of the solid rock. 

Pulowech knew what it was. Boooins have 
power to enter stone ; and one of them was trying 
to hide in the rock. 

Pulowech cut off the knee with his hatchet. The 
cliff closed over the boooin, hiding him forever. 

A little way on, Pulowech saw a foot sticking 
out of the rock. It he also cut off. 

He had now slain two. 

As he came out from the cliff, a little squirrel 
dragged herself, half dead from cold, into his path. 
Pulowech took her up and put her in his bosom. 

" Rest, little one !" he said. "You shall fight for 
me to-day !" 

He came to a lake. A flock of geese were swimming 
about, thrusting their long necks under the water. 



9 6 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Pulowech looked at them. "You are not what* 
you seem!" he thought. They were boooins who 
had changed themselves into geese. 

Pulowech hid ; and when the geese swam near 
shore, he shot them with his arrows. He gathered 




them in, tied their heads together, and flung them 
over his shoulder. 

The waters of the lake flowed into a river ; and 
where the river began, Pulowech found a wigwam 
standing alone. 

He dropped his geese by the door and entered. 
An old man was within. Pulowech no sooner saw 
him than he knew him for a boooin. 

The old man spoke to him sourly. He cooked 
meat and put it in a bowl as if to give it him ; but 
when Pulowech reached to take it, the old man 
snatched the bowl away. 



PULOWECH, GLOOSKAP'S FRIEND 97 

"No," he said rudely, "I had rather my dog ate 
it !" He did this more than once. 

Pulowech answered 
nothing. 

"Did you see any 
strange thing to- 
day ?" sneered the 
old man. He knew 
who Pulowech was. 

"Nothing very 
strange," Pulowech 
answered ; "I saw a 
knee and a foot sticking out of a cliff ; I chopped 
them off. I shot some geese on a lake ; they lie 
by your door, dead !" 

This put the boooin in a fury. "Had you a 
dog," he screamed, "he should fight mine; we 
should see which of us is stronger !" 

"I have a dog!" said Pulowech, smiling. 

He took the squirrel from his bosom and put her 
down by the fire. She stretched herself, and sat up. 

The boooin laughed. 

IND. HERO TALES 7 




9 8 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



"Dog, dog!" he called; and into the wigwam 
bounded a weisum, 1 an ugly beast big as a bear. 

"Take her !" screamed 
the boooin, pointing. 




Before the weisum could seize her, the squirrel 
leaped away, her tail a-quiver. In a trice she had 
grown as big as the weisum. She flew at his throat. 

Over they rolled into the fire, scattering ashes 
and coals. Smoke and the smell of burning fur 
filled the wigwam. Pulowech and the boooin ran 
about, the boooin shouting. The noise was deafen- 
ing. 

The squirrel began to weary. Pulowech stooped 
and patted her back ; and there came leaping in 
1 wei-sum. See Note 31. 



PULOWECH, GLOOSKAP'S FRIEND 99 

two other squirrels, her sons. They grew to great 
size and sprang at the weisum. 

"Call them off !" screamed the boooin. "The 
weisum is my grandmother's dog ! She loves him." 

Pulowech would not do this. The weisum was 
soon dead. 

The old boooin wept aloud. "Alack, my grand- 
mother !" he cried. "Her dear weisum is dead!" 

He now spoke kindly to Pulowech. 

"Grandson," he said, "let us take my canoe and 
go upon the river !" 

"I will go," said Pulowech. 

They were soon seated in the canoe. The cur- 
rent bore them toward a cliff, where the river en- 
tered a cave ; on either side, the waves thundered 
against the rock. 

Pulowech steered ; but as he neared the cliff, he 
looked around. The boooin had just leaped ashore ! 

Pulowech did not try to turn the canoe. He 
steadied her with his paddle, bowed his head, and 
shot like an arrow into the cave. 

He could not see to steer. The waters roared, 



INDIAN HERO TALES 




and the canoe spun around and around in the dark. 
But Pulowech felt no fear. Calmly he sat in the 
bow, singing. 1 

After a while he saw a light ahead. He soon 
came out into daylight. He looked about him. 
There was a rocky cave in the bank of the river 
and smoke arose from its mouth. 

"The boooin is there I" Pulowech thought. 
He hid his canoe, and climbed to the cave. He 
heard voices within. 

"I bring sad news, grandmother," said one. 
"The best of our band are slain. Your weisum is 
dead also !" It was the boooin that spoke. 

"Who slays our band ?" cried his grandmother, 
angrily. 

1 See Note 32. 



PULOWECH, GLOOSKAFS FRIEND 101 

"Pulowech, the partridge/' answered the other. 

His grandmother was in a rage. " Would Pulo- 
wech were here!" she cried; "I would roast him 
alive \" 

She belonged to the porcupine folk, who love heat. 

"Pulowech is dead/' said her grandson. "I sent 
him afloat in the cavern !" 

"But I am alive," said Pulowech ; and he stepped 
into the cave. "Now roast me!" he said; and 
he sat down. 

There was great store of hemlock bark in the 
cave. The boooin and his grandmother heaped the 
bark on the fire. 

Hot flames roared upward, and the walls of the 
cave grew red with the heat. Pulowech sat un- 
moved. 

The fire burned low at last. 

Pulowech went out and fetched in more bark, 
until the cave was full. Then he closed the door. 

"Do not slay us, grandson !" cried the boooin. 

Pulowech answered, "You stole my wife !" He 
set fire to the bark and sat down. 



102 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Again flames roared upward. Red hot stones 
fell from the roof, and the sides of the cave cracked 
with the heat. 

The fire died at last. Pulowech sat unhurt ; but 
of the porcupines, nothing was left. 

Pulowech arose and went to his canoe. He 
pushed off and sailed away, singing. 



TWELFTH TALE 

GLOOSKAP AND THE GIANT SORCERERS 

A giant had three sons and a daughter ; and all 
were sorcerers. Glooskap was their friend. The 
old giant even called him son, and often feasted 
him in his wigwam. 

But at heart the old giant was evil ; and his 
sons grew up worse than their father. They became 
boooins and hunted men. The land groaned for 
their wickedness. 

All this came to Glooskap's ears, for it made a 
noise among the people. It grieved Glooskap. 

103 



104 INDIAN HERO TALES 

"I will go and find if it is true," he said ; and he 
departed. 

The giants' wigwam stood near the sea ; and as he 
went thither, Glooskap thought how he should 
meet the boooins. 

" I will not let them know me," he said to him- 
self. 

The old giant had but one eye. Glooskap made 
himself like him, even to his single eye. He en- 
tered the giant's wigwam, and found him sitting. 
Glooskap sat down and they began to talk. 

By and by, the giant's sons came in. They saw 
Glooskap and the old giant by the fire talking, and 
looking just alike. They could not tell which was 
their father. 

The giant's daughter had put a whale's tail in a 
pot and set it on the fire. The meat was now 
boiled. The girl took it into a bowl and gave it to 
Glooskap to eat. 

He set it on his knees ; but before he could take 
a mouthful, the eldest of the giant's sons snatched 
the meat out of the bowl. "Beggar," he cried, 



GLOOSKAP AND THE GIANT SORCERERS 105 

"this is not for you !" He went out, taking the 
meat with him. 

Glooskap did not show his anger. "The meat 
is mine," he said. "Your sister gave it me !" 

Sitting with the bowl on his knees, he thought, 

"I WISH THE MEAT BACK IN THE BOWL !" 

And the whale's tail, 




still hot, came flying in 
at the door and fell in 
the bowl. Glooskap be- 
gan to eat. 

When he had enough, 
Glooskap put down the 
bowl. He said nothing. 

The giants looked at 
him, wondering. "He is a magician !" they thought. 

The eldest of the young giants fetched in a whale's 
jaw, thick as a man's thigh. He took the ends in his 
hands and, with all his strength, bent the bone a 
little. He laughed, and gave the jaw to Glooskap. 

"Let us see," he said, "what our little brother 
can do !" 



106 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Glooskap did not rise from where he sat. With 
thumb and finger of one hand, he snapped the 
whale's jaw as if it were a duck's wishbone ! 

The boooins were filled with awe. "He is indeed 
a magician !" they thought. 

They brought out a great stone pipe, and filled it 

with strongest tobacco, 
that only sorcerers can 
smoke. They handed 
the pipe around. 1 

All smoked in turn, 
blowing out great 
clouds; the eldest 
handed the pipe to 
Glooskap. 
"Let our brother try!" he said. 
Glooskap filled the bowl anew. At one pull, he 
burnt all the tobacco to ashes, and blew the smoke 
from his nostrils in one great puff. 

The giants were troubled. "He is a great ma- 
gician !" they thought. 

1 See Note 33. 




GLOOSKAP AND THE GIANT SORCERERS 107 

Again Glooskap filled the pipe, and lighted it. 
One of the giants arose and made fast the door. 
He hoped Glooskap would strangle with the smoke. 

But Glooskap puffed away, caring not a bit. 

Not so the giants, who sat choking and coughing. 
At last, nearly strangled, they opened the door 
and ran out. 

Glooskap followed them, smiling. 

When all had gotten breath, the giants went 
apart and talked among themselves. They came to 
Glooskap. 

"Our brother," they said, "is strong; but let us 
see his skill at ball !" They led him to a sandy 
plain in the bend of a river, not far away. 




One of the giants put down a ball 



The ball was 
a live skull. It 
went rolling: at 



Glooskap's 
heels, trying to 
bite off his foot. 



108 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Glooskap laughed. "You play a merry game !" 
he cried, "but I too will have a ball !" He broke 
a bough from a tree and cast it on the ground. 

The bough turned into a skull ten times bigger 
than the other. It rolled after the giants, bumping 
along and snapping its great jaws, until they cried 
for mercy. 

Glooskap stamped upon the sand. With a mighty 
roar, waters came down from the mountains. The 
river rose, foaming, and overflowed the plain. 

The giants fled ; but the flood caught them. 
Struggling, they heard Glooskap singing above 
the waves. 

As they heard, they became fish. The current 
swept them to the sea. 




THIRTEENTH TALE 

GLOOSKAP AND TUMILKOONTAWOO 1 

Again Glooskap brought his family down by 
the sea. He found good fishing, and in the fall 
flocks of sea ducks came flying down from the 
north. He made him arrows and shot both ducks 
and geese. In the mornings, he fished or speared 
for eels. 

But the weather grew windy. Heavy gales blew 
up, and the waves tossed his canoe so that Glooskap 
could do little fishing ; nor could he spear eels in so 
rough a sea. 

1 Tum-il-koon'-ta-woo 

109 



no INDIAN HERO TALES 

Weeks went by, but the weather stayed foul. 
The gales howled over the sea ; and waves, moun- 
tain high, rolled inshore. Glooskap no longer tried 
to put out in his canoe. He could not fish in such 
weather. 

For days he sat in his wigwam, waiting for the 
wind to die. Still the gales blew. 

There was little meat left in the wigwam. Gloos- 
kap's family were growing hungry. 

"You must get us meat, grandson, or we starve," 
said the old Bear Woman. 

Glooskap arose slowly. He went down to the 
shore to look for dead fish ; for the waves sometimes 
cast fish against the beach, killing them. He walked 
along the beach, going north. The farther he went, 
the fiercer blew the wind. 

"What makes the wind blow so ?" he thought. 

He came to a point of land that jutted out into 
the water. Just off the point rose a rocky islet. 
Something dark sat on the rock. Glooskap could 
not see what it was for the mist. 

He bent his head to the wind and waded out. 



GLOOSKAP AND TUMILKOONTAWOO in 




Fiercer rose the gale ; Gloos- 
kap could hardly stand 
against it. He found shel- 
ter under the islet ; and he 
stood and looked up. 

On the top of the rock sat 
a giant eagle, flapping his great 
wings. As he moved them they fanned the wind 
which went rushing and raging over the sea. 

"It is the Wind Bird/' thought Glooskap. 

The chill mist fell about him, and he shivered. A 
thought came to him. 

"Grandfather," he called out, "are you not 
chilled in the wind ?" 

^ ^yj^ "No, grandson/' answered the 

"But, grandfather," cried Gloos- 
kap, "your wings are wet with the 
mist. Let me carry you to the 
mainland. There is no mist there ! " 

The eagle sat awhile, flapping 
his wings. 




II2 INDIAN HERO TALES 

"I will go, grandson," he said at last. "I am 
tired of sitting here on the rock." 

"Good, grandfather!" cried Glooskap. He 
climbed the rock, bent his shoulders, and took the 
great eagle on his back. 

Glooskap climbed slowly down, and waded 
through the shallow water to the mainland; but 
as he came ashore, his foot slipped, and he stumbled. 
The eagle, falling from his shoulders, broke his 
wing. 

"I am sorry, grandfather," cried Glooskap. 
He lifted the eagle to his feet, and helped him get 
to a place out of the wind. 
He bound up the broken wing 
with willows, for splints. 

"Does it hurt you, grand- 
father ?" he asked. 

"No, grandson," answered 
the eagle. 

"Sit here, grandfather," said Glooskap. "Do 
not move your wing, or the bones will not knit. 
Each day I will bring you fish to eat." 




GLOOSKAP AND TUMILKOONTAWOO 113 

Glooskap hastened home, and got out his canoe. 
There was no wind now, and the sea was like a pond. 
Glooskap could spear eels, or fish, as he liked. He 
brought in meat and fish 
daily, enough for his family 
and the eagle. 

But with no breeze to stir 
the sea, the water grew stag- 
nant. Fishes sickened and 
died ; and a foul scum arose 
and overspread the sea. 

Glooskap went to the eagle and unbound his 
wing. 

"Grandfather," he said, "you may move your 
wing; but not hard, lest you hurt it !" 

The eagle gently flapped his wings and a faint 
breeze swept over the water. It blew the scum 
from the surface of the sea. 

Evening came, and the Bear Woman fetched 
Glooskap a bowl of steaming fish to eat. As he 
took it she said, "Grandson, did you not plan to 
fall and break the eagle's wing ?" 




IND. HERO TALES 8 



1 1 4 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Glooskap sat eating his fish. He said nothing, 
but his eyes were smiling. 

The Bear Woman laughed. "We will call the 
eagle Tumilkoontawoo, or Broken Wing !" she 
said. 

And now when a breeze blows off the sea, the 
Indians say, "Tumilkoontawoo fans his wings." 



FOURTEENTH TALE 
GLOOSKAP AND ATOSIS 1 
Atosis the snake was evil. He had been a man ; 
but he hated Glooskap and became a serpent that 
he might make war upon him. 

Many times Atosis tried to slay him ; but Gloos- 
kap was never one to be caught napping. 

Glooskap's brother, the little marten, had a flute. 2 
When he played upon it, the birds and beasts came 
up to hear its sweet music. Abistanooch called 
them his pets. 

One day when Glooskap was gone, the little 
^t-o-sis 2 See Note 34. 

115 



n6 INDIAN HERO TALES 

marten took his flute into the forest. On the way, 
he stumbled, and the flute fell from his hands. He 
picked it up, put it to his lips, and blew. It gave 
no sound. 

"My flute is broken!" cried the little marten. 
Again he blew. It was no use ! The flute was 
silent. The little marten wandered on, 
weeping. 

Evening came, and he lost his way. 
All that night he wandered, and the 
next, cold and hungry and weeping. 
It was the month for making maple 
sugar. 1 There was snow on the 
ground. 

The third night out, the little marten 
came to a hollow in the forest. Below in the trees, 
he saw a light. He made his way down and came 
to a wigwam. A fire glowed within. 

Timidly the marten entered. The firelight 
blinded him for a moment. When he could see, 
he was ready to die of fright. 

x See Note 35. 




GLOOSKAP AND ATOSIS 117 

A bark kettle full of boiling sap hung over the 
fire. 1 On the other side, watching the kettle, lay 
a great snake. It was Atosis, Glooskap's enemy. 

"Kwai!" hissed the snake, "Welcome !" And 
he moved, rust- 
ling his scales. 

The little 
marten sat 
down by the 
door, in the 
place where 
wood is piled. 
His heart went 
pit-a-pat I He was frightened. 

"What do you want ?" hissed the snake. 

"To be warmed. I am cold and hungry !" said 
the little marten. Tears were in his eyes. 

"I too am hungry !" hissed the snake. "I have 
not eaten for a month ; and you are fat !" 

And the snake moved again, spitting out his 
tongue. 

1 See Note 36. 




n8 INDIAN HERO TALES 

The little marten shook with fright. "Do not 
kill me !" he begged; "I am Glooskap's brother/' 
The snake laughed aloud. 

"I know you are Glooskap's brother," he hissed. 
"That is why I am going to eat you. I shall spit 
you on a stick, to roast over my fire !" 

The little marten put his hands over his eyes 
and began to sob. 

"Go, get the stick!" mocked the snake. "Get 
a straight one; it will not tear you !" 

The little marten dared not say no. He arose 
and went out sobbing. 

On the very evening the marten lost his way in 
the forest, Glooskap came back home. He found 
the old Bear Woman in the wigwam weeping. 

"What has happened, grandmother ?" he asked. 

"Your brother, Abistanooch, has not come home," 
she answered. "I fear he is lost !" and she wept 
anew. 

"Do not weep," cried Glooskap, "I will find 
him !" 

Losing not a moment, he put parched corn in a 



GLOOSKAP AND ATOSIS 119 

pouch 1 to eat, caught up his hatchet, and hastened 
out. He came upon the little marten's tracks the next 
morning. The trail led into the forest. Swiftly, 
Glooskap followed. 

The third night, he heard a voice in a hollow, 
singing. It was Abista- 
nooch, calling his brother. 

Glooskap hastened down, 
and soon saw the light 
from the snake's wigwam. 
Clearer rose the little mar- 
ten's voice, singing against 
the snake kind. He was 
hunting a stick for a spit. 

Glooskap heard, and knew all that had happened : 
how Atosis, for hate of him, had caused the flute 
to fall ; how he had lured Abistanooch to his wig- 
wam, and now sent him for a stick to spit him on. 

Glooskap began to sing softly : 

"Atosis bids you get a straight stick; 
Get a crooked one, little brother !" 
1 See Note 37. 




120 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Abistanooch heard. Gladly he found a crooked 
stick and ran back to the snake's wigwam. Gloos- 
kap drew his hatchet and hid behind a fallen trunk. 

Morn was breaking ; a crow cawed overhead. 

The snake raised his head as Abistanooch en- 
tered. "Did you get a straight stick ?" he hissed. 

"I got a crooked one," the little marten an- 
swered. "I will straighten it in the fire I" 




He made a heap of coals in the fireplace and into 
it thrust one end of the stick. 

The snake crept near to watch. He had never 
seen a stick straightened in the fire. 

When the end that he held in his hand was steam- 



GLOOSKAP AND ATOSIS 



121 



ing, Abistanooch dragged the stick out of the fire. 
Atosis crept nearer, to see. 

Suddenly, Abistanooch raised the stick and 
struck the snake over the eyes. 

The great snake writhed and twisted with pain. 
Sparks had fallen into his eyes. 

"Brother, brother!" cried the marten. He 
dashed out of the wigwam and ran straight for the 
trunk where Glooskap was hiding. 

The snake followed, and raised his head to glide 
over the trunk. 

Glooskap leaped up ; and with a blow of his 
hatchet, slew him. 




FIFTEENTH TALE 
GLOOSKAP AND THE FROG CHIEF 

Up in the mountains, there dwelt a village of 
Indians. Their town was only a dozen lodges, but 
the villagers thought it the finest in all the world. 

A brook of clearest, cool water flowed by the 
town. Very proud were the Indians of their brook ! 
They never tired drinking from it. 

Indeed, it was all they had to drink. There was 
not a spring, not even a rain puddle, on the moun- 
tain side. 

So the villagers drank for many years ; but a 
summer came when their brook ran low. The 

122 



GLOOSKAP AND THE FROG CHIEF 



123 



maidens went each morning to the watering place, 1 
to come back with kettles not half filled. 
"The brook is failing ! " they said. 
"It will rise again," said the old women. 
But the brook did not rise. Lower it sank, until 
the maidens came back one morning with empty 
kettles ; the bed of the brook was dry. 

The chief called the older men to a council. 

"What shall we do ?" he asked. 
A pipe was passed. An old man arose. 

"We have heard," 
he said, "that farther 
up in the mountains 
is another village of 
Indians. It is they 
I who stop our brook ! 
§§§*: Let a runner go and 
see if it is not so !" 
He sat down, and 
the others cried, "Ho, ho I" The speech pleased 
them. 

1 See Note 38. 




124 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



The chief called a fleet runner and said to him: 
"Go to the strange villagers. Ask them why they 
stop our brook ! " 

The runner set off, and the third day came to the 
strange village. There he saw what kept back the 
water. A dam was raised across the bed of the 
brook, backing the water into a wide pond. 

Two men came out of a wigwam. They spoke 
to the runner, but did not ask him into their lodge. 

" Why have you built the dam ?" ^ < / - V < 
the runner asked them. JKBL Jllfe 



lying in the mud, sunning JF ^K'^^^^t 
himself. He was big, fat, <-qm&s*as&*' 
ugly. He had a wide mouth, and his yellow eyes 
stuck out like warts. His body was green. 

"Ump !" he croaked like a great frog. "What 
do you want ?" 



the men answered. They — 
told the runner that their 
chief lived in the pond. 



The runner found the chief 



"Our chief did it; ask him! 




GLOOSKAP AND THE FROG CHIEF 125 

"I want water/' said the runner. "You have 
dammed our brook, and our villagers have no water 
to drink!" 

The chief laughed ; and swelling out his throat, 
he bellowed : 

"Do as you please ! 
What do I care, 
If you want water ? 

"Go somewhere else ! 
Go somewhere else !" 

"We must have water," cried the runner. "Our 
people have nothing to drink !" 

The chief laughed again. Lazily he sprang to the 
middle of the dam and made a hole in it with the 
point of an arrow. A little water flowed out. 

The chief sprang back to his place in the mud 
and bellowed : 

"Up and begone, 
Up and begone, 
Up and begone !" 

The runner went away, sorrowful. 



i 2 6 INDIAN HERO TALES 

When he got home, his story made much stir 
among the villagers. For a few days, there was a 

little water in the 
brook, but it soon 
dried up and they 
were thirsty again. 

The chief called 
another council. 

"Unless we get 
water," he said, 
"we shall die of 
thirst. Let us 
choose our bravest warrior and send him to the 
strange village. There let him break the dam, or 
slay the chief and die fighting!" 

The speech pleased the villagers. Each wanted 
to be the one to go. 

Glooskap knew all that was going on in the world. 
It pleased him, who loved brave men, to see the 
villagers bent on breaking the dam. "I will help 
them !" he said. 

He rose and dressed for war. The villagers were 




GLOOSKAP AND THE FROG CHIEF 127 

arming one of their own men to go, when Glooskap 
strode into the« council. 

Very terrible he looked. He wore a bonnet of 
eagles' feathers, and carried a lance in his hand. 
His cheeks were painted red, and green rings were 
around his eyes. Clam shells hung from his ears. 
Two eagle wings flapped from the back of his 
neck. 

The Indians looked at him with awe. The young 
women thought him 
very handsome. 

"What is this you 
do ?" Glooskap asked 
them. The villagers 
told him of their plan. 

"Let me go,'* Gloos- 
kap cried; "I will 
break the dam !" 

He set off up the bed of the brook, and reached 
the strange village the third day. 

At the edge of the town, he sat down on a log, to 
rest. No one came out to greet him. 




I2 8 INDIAN HERO TALES 

A boy came by. Glooskap called to him, 

" Fetch me water to drink ! " 

"I cannot," answered the 
boy. "Our chief keeps all 
the water for himself." 

"Go to your chief and 
get me water !" cried 
Glooskap. 

He drew out his pipe and 
smoked, waiting. An hour 
had passed, when the boy 
came back with a cup of 
slimy, muddy water. 
Glooskap threw the cup on the ground. "Take 
me to your chief !" he cried. 

The boy led him to the dam. There in the mud 
lay the chief, sunning himself. Only his head was 
out of water. 

He stared at Glooskap with his yellow eyes. 
" What do you want ? " he croaked. 

"I want a drink of good water!" Glooskap 
cried, angrily. 




GLOOSKAP AND THE FROG CHIEF 129 
The chief laughed aloud, and bellowed : 

"Ump, ump, away with you, 
Ump, ump, away with you !" 

Glooskap rose in anger ; and shouting his war- 
whoop, 1 ran the chief through with his lance. 

And lo, the village disappeared ; 2 and from the 
chiefs body gushed a mighty river that burst the 
dam and went roaring down the brook's bed. The 
chief had swallowed all the waters of the brook. 

Glooskap rose until he touched the clouds. He 
reached down, caught the chief, and squeezed 
him in his mighty grip. When he opened his fingers 
again, he held only a great, ugly bull frog ! Gloos- 
kap tossed him into the stream. 

1 See Note 39. 2 See Note 40. 




IND. HERO TALES 9 



SIXTEENTH TALE 
GLOOSKAP'S RETURN TO THE VILLAGE 

Glooskap set off to return. His way led hin. 
down the bed of the brook. The cool waves went 
plashing by him. Glooskap was happy. 

The third day, he reached the village of his friends. 

But no one came out to welcome him; and 
Glooskap was astonished to see no smoke rising 
from the wigwams. The village stood silent, 
empty ; for a strange thing had happened. 

All the Indians had gone down to the banks of 
the brook, to wait for the water to come. As they 



GLOOSKAP'S RETURN TO THE VILLAGE 131 

sat, dry and thirsty, they talked as hungry children 
do when they want something to eat. 

"What would you want to do," one asked, "if 
our brook had water once more ?" 

"Live in the cool bottom," cried one, "and crawl 
about in the soft mud !" 

"Dive all day long, from rocks and logs !" said 
another. He was a young man, and long-legged. 

"Live among the stones at the edge of the brook, 
half on land, half in water !" cried a third. 

"I," said a fourth, "would live in the water 
a 1 ways, and never leave it !" 

It chanced that they spoke in the 
hour that makes all wishes come 
true. So each had his wish. 

The first became a leech. The 
second became a spotted frog with 
long legs. The third became a 
crawfish ; the fourth, a fish. 

When the water from the dam 
came roaring down, all plunged 
in and swam away. 




SEVENTEENTH TALE 
THE MEN WHO DISOBEYED GLOOSKAP 
So the years rolled on, but the world was now 
growing wicked. 1 Men forgot the good that Gloos- 
kap had taught them. More and more they wanted 
to do their own will. 

Glooskap was grieved, for he liked not wicked- 
ness. He took himself and his family to an island 
and dwelt there. It was even said he was minded 
to quit the world. 

He did quit the world after a time ; but before 
1 See Note 41. 
i3 2 



THE MEN WHO DISOBEYED GLOOSKAP 133 

he went, he sent his messengers, the loons, through- 
out the land. "Any man who finds Glooskap may 
ask of him one wish !" they told the people. 

Many set out ; and to all that found him, Gloos- 
kap said, "You shall have your wish ! " 

But Glooskap took it ill that any should not do 
as he bade them. Some disobeyed ; and these 
found that his gifts brought 
them no good luck. 

Three men set out to find 
Glooskap. They went seven 
years and had nigh lost 
heart, when they heard dogs 
barking. 

"Glooskap is there ! We 
shall soon find him," the men 
said. But it was three months before they saw 
Glooskap's island. They passed over in a canoe. 

Glooskap welcomed them. He feasted them 
many days, and they were getting ready to return 
home, when he asked them, "What do you want !" 

The eldest was a simple, honest man. "I want 




i 3 4 INDIAN HERO TALES 

to be a good hunter/' he said. "Men think meanly 
of me, because I kill so few deer !" 

Glooskap smiled. He liked men who thought 
not too much of themselves. 

He gave the man a magic flute of wood. "Blow 
on this flute," he told him. "Deer and moose will 
come to you to be shot !" 

The man thanked him and went away. He 
wondered to find himself, at the end of seven days, 
home in his village. He had been seven years on 
his way to Glooskap. 

The second man was foolish. "I 
wish," he said, "to dance with the 
maidens whenever I will !" 

Glooskap looked at him queerly. 
"A man should ask better than to 
be ever dancing !" he said. 

"I care not !" the man answered. 
Glooskap fetched out a bag with its mouth tied, 
and gave it to him. "Take this," he said. "Open 
it when you get home ; but do not look into it on 
the way !" 




THE MEN WHO DISOBEYED GLOOSKAP 135 

The third asked to be taught a strange, weird 
sound that makes all who hear it laugh and feel 
merry. In olden days, this sound was heard at 
every merrymaking. Now, only a few aged men 
can make it. 

Glooskap bade Abistanooch fetch him a root. 
This he gave the man. "When you come in your 
wigwam," he said, "eat this root. Beware you 
do not eat it before ! " 

The two men scarce 
stopped to thank 
Glooskap. They set 
off, going different 
ways. 

He with the bag was 
hardly out of sight, 
when he burned to know what was in it. 1 " It can 
do no harm to look ! 99 he thought. 

He untied the string, and whut ! — out flew a 
winsome maiden ! Her feet touched the ground, 
and she began to dance. 

1 See Note 42. 




I3 6 INDIAN HERO TALES 

The man could not believe his eyes. He winked 
hard. "I must be asleep !" he thought. But zvhut! 
— out flew another maiden, and another, and an- 
other ! In flocks they came, crying wildly. 

The man longed to join in the dance. He held 
out his hands to the maidens, slipped, fell ! Over 
him they danced, back, and over him again. 
"Help !" he cried, "help !" They gave no heed. 

Hunters found him lying where he fell. No one 
knew what became of the maidens. 

He of the weird sound fared no better. He was 
but a day's journey from his village, when he sat 
on a log to rest. He thought of the root, took 
it out, smelled it. The man longed to eat it. 

"Glooskap cannot know!" he thought, and he 
ate the root. 

At once he could make the sound. He laughed 
as it came from his lips ; and he went gayly on. 

He was nearly home when a deer stepped into 
his path. The man was raising his bow to shoot 
when the sound burst from him, — he could not stop 
it ! The deer heard and leaped away. 



THE MEN WHO DISOBEYED GLOOSKAP 137 

"What ails me ?" the man cried. Even as he 
spoke, the sound burst from him again. 

It was so when he came to his village. 

At first, all laughed at the sound ; but the man 
could do nothing that it did not burst from him. 
He made it when he ate, when he slept ! The vil- 
lagers shunned him at last, weary with laughing. 

With bitter heart, he wandered into the forest. 
"I care not if I die !" he cried. 

Evening fell ; darkness was coming on. 

With a cry weird as the sound, 1 Pamola 2 the night- 
hawk swooped from the sky and bore the man off 
into the night ! 

1 See Note 43. 2 Pa-mo-la 



EIGHTEENTH TALE 

KEEKWAJOO 1 AND KAKTOOGWASEES 2 
I. Keekwajoo is made a Megasoowesoo 3 
Keekwajoo and Kaktoogwasees were young men 
who had each a wish. Keekwajoo was the elder; 
he longed to be a megasoowesoo, or enchanter. 
Kaktoogwasees wanted the daughter of a certain 
chief for his wife. This chief was a magician. 

Neither of the men knew how to get the thing 

he longed for. 

"Let us seek Glooskap I" said Keekwajoo. They 

1 Keek-wa-joo 2 Kak-toog-wa-sees 3 me-ga-s55-we-soo 

138 



KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 139 

journeyed long and came to Glooskap's wigwam 
on an island. 

They entered as Indians do without knocking, 1 
and found the Bear Woman and Abistanooch 
within. The old grandmother was scouring a pot 
with rushes. 2 The marten was cleaning his pipe. 
He had his robe drawn about his knees as he sat. 3 
The Bear Woman spoke kindly to the strangers. 
"Sit here," she said; and she made a place for 
them behind the fire. 

Glooskap came in later. " Kwail — welcome !" 
he cried when he saw the strangers. 

Then to his grandmother : "These men have 
come far. Put on the 
pot and give them to 
eat I" 

The Bear Woman 
stirred the fire and 
dropped a bit of meat, 
hardly a mouthful, into 
the pot. When it boiled, 

1 See Note 44. 2 See Note 45. 3 See Note 46. 




l 4 o INDIAN HERO TALES 

she took the meat into a wooden dish and handed 
it to Keekwajoo. 
"Eat !" she said. 

"We are mocked !" thought Keekwajoo, smiling; 
but he took the dish. He cut a piece off the meat 
and ate it. When he looked again in the dish, he 
was astonished to see the meat had grown to its 
first size. 

"Wonderful !" he thought. 

He and Kaktoogwasees fell to, and ate heartily. 
When they were done, there was meat in the dish 
as at the first. 

Evening came. Glooskap asked the men what 
they wanted. 

"To be a megasoowesoo," Keekwajoo answered. 

Kaktoogwasees said, "A chief has a daughter 
that I want for my wife. But the chief puts such 
tasks to those that seek her, that they die every 
one ! 

Glooskap answered nothing. When the men 
had eaten again, and smoked, he gave them robes 
to sleep upon. 



KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 141 

The next morning before 
sunrise, Glooskap called Keek- 
wajoo, and led him to a river. 
"Bathe !" he said. 

Keekwajoo plunged in and 
swam about. He came out 
with skin dripping. 

Glooskap lent him a porcu- 
pine tail for a hairbrush ; 1 and 
gave him a coat, leggings, and 
a magic hairstring. 2 

"The hairstring will give you the power you 
want," he told him. 

Glooskap also gave him a wooden flute. "When 
you blow on it," he said, "you can charm all things !" 

He bade him sing. Keekwajoo did so and found 
his voice was low and sweet. He could not sing 
before. 

Glooskap led him back to the wigwam. "You 
are now a megasoowesoo," he said. "Your friend 
wants a wife. Go and help him win her !" 

1 See Note 47. 2 See Note 48. 




142 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



"I will go," said Keekwajoo, "if you will lend 
us your canoe !" 

Glooskap laughed. "Take the canoe," he said, 
" but bring it back to me. Many borrow and forget 
to return it !" 

"We will bring it back," said the two men. 

Glooskap led them 
to the beach. A lit- 
tle way out in the 
water was a small, 
rocky island, covered 
with pines. "Behold 
my canoe !" said 
Glooskap, smiling. 
The young men 

looked at the island. They did not know what 
to think. 

"Wade out and climb into it !" said Glooskap. 

They did so, and found themselves in a stone 
canoe. Pine paddles lay on the floor. The men 
chose each a paddle and sat down, Keekwajoo in 
the bow, Kaktoogwasees in the stern. 




KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 143 




"Go!" called Glooskap. 

The men dipped their paddles, and their canoe 
glided away towards the sea. 

Weeks went by before the men reached the island 
where dwelt the chief. They landed, and Keek- 
wajoo hid the canoe under a bush. They soon 
found the chiefs village. 

A man led them to the chiefs lodge, a tall wig- 
wam in the center of the town. They entered and 
stood. 

The chief spoke kindly to them. "Sit here !" 
he said, and he spread a mat for them. 

In the evening he made them a feast. 1 After- 
wards, when they were alone, he asked, "What seek 
you ?" 

Keekwajoo answered for his friend. "Kaktoog- 
wasees tires of dwelling alone ! He seeks a wife." 
The chief sat thinking. 

1 See Note 49. 



I44 INDIAN HERO TALES 

"My daughter is fair," he said at last. "Let 
your friend fetch me the chepichkarn' s 1 head 2 for a 
gift !" This chepichkarn was a great, horned 
serpent. 

"May I help?" Keekwajoo asked. 

"Yes," said the chief; for he thought, "The 
chepichkarn will slay them both !" 

The men thanked the chief, and went to another 
wigwam to sleep. 

At midnight, Keekwajoo arose and stole from 
the lodge. He made his way far into the forest 
until he came to a pit. It was the chepichkam's 
den. The moon had risen. The den looked black 
in the moonlight. 

Keekwajoo rolled a log over the pit, drew his 
hatchet, and began to dance around the pit's mouth. 
Fast, faster, he danced. 

After a while, an ugly head appeared and the che- 
pichkarn crept forth. It rested its head a moment 
on the log. Keekwajoo sprang forward, and with 
a blow, cut off the serpent's head. 

1 che-pich-kam 2 See Note 50. 



KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 145 

He lifted the head by its horns and bore it to the 
wigwam. In the morning, Kaktoogwasees took 
it to the chiefs lodge. 

The chief was aston- 
ished. "I fear I shall 
lose my daughter," he 
thought. 

But Kaktoogwasees 
was to have other 
tasks. 

The chief invited him 
and Keekwajoo to a feast. After 
they had eaten, he led them to the door and 
pointed to a mountain. "Coast down yonder hill !" 
he said. 

The top of the mountain was ragged, and white 
with ice. Its sides bristled with pines. 

The chief's son brought out two toboggans, 1 as 
for a race ; that for the strangers was to go first, 
and Keekwajoo was to steer. 

Two strong men, boooins, got into the other to- 
1 See Note 51. 




IND. HERO TALES IO 



146 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



boggan. The chief hoped Kaktoogwasees would 
be spilled out on the snow, and the boooins, com- 
ing after him, would run him down. 

The chief gave the word, and the two toboggans 
shot down the mountain side. 
Halfway down, Keekwajoo's to- 
boggan lurched, pitching Kak- 
toogwasees headlong. The 





two boooins laughed, 
"Ho, ho!" They 
did not know all this 
had been planned. 
Keekwajoo turned his toboggan a 
little out of the path, 1 caught his friend, and pulled 
him aboard. This let the boooins' toboggan get 
1 See Note 52. 



KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 147 

ahead. Another instant, Keekwajoo was after 
them ! 

In the trees at the bottom of the mountain, the 
boodins 1 toboggan stopped. Keekwajoo's toboggan, 
flying over the boooins' heads, went on and struck 
the chiefs wigwam, ripping it from end to end. 
It stopped in the fireplace. 

The chief was angered, but could do nothing. 
"I fear I shall lose my daughter !" he thought. 

Spring came, and the young men were running 
races. The chief called Kaktoogwasees to him. 

"There is a young man," he told him, "a swift 
runner, who has never been beaten in a race. Go 
and run with him !" 

Kaktoogwasees went to his friend. "What shall 
I do ?" he asked. "I cannot run !" 

"Take this flute," said Keekwajoo. "It will 
make you run !" He gave him Glooskap's flute. 
Keekwajoo put it in his medicine bag. 1 

The chief set an hour for the start. All the 
villagers came to look on. 

1 See Note 53. 



I4 8 INDIAN HERO TALES 




The runners took their stand. They wore light 
moccasins on their feet. Their thighs and shoulders 
were bare. 

"What is your name ?" Kaktoogwasees asked. 

"Men call me Weyadesk, 1 or Northern Light, be- 
cause I am swift I" the other answered. 

"I," laughed Kaktoogwasees, "am so fleet, men 
call me Wosogwodesk, 2 or Streak o' Lightning !" 

The sun was just above the tree tops when the 
chief gave the word to go. The two runners darted 
off. They were out of sight in a twinkling. 

Before noon, Kaktoogwasees returned. He had 
gone clear around the world, but was not tired. "I 
told you I was swift, like lightning !" he laughed. 
1 We-ya-desk 2 Wo-sog-wo-desk 



KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 149 

He that was called Northern Light came in at 
evening. He was tired and out of breath, 
and his body trembled and quivered. 1 
He had gone half round the world, and 
turned back. 

The chief was angered and troubled. 
"I fear," he thought, "I shall lose my 
daughter !" 

Kaktoogwasees was given one more 
task. 

"A young man in my village has never 
been beaten at swimming/' the chief told 
him. "Go and dive with him." 

"I will dive !" said Kaktoogwasees. 
He still had Glooskap's flute. 

A day was set. The chief and all his 
villagers came down to the sea shore. 
The two divers stood on the edge of a 
rock, over the water. 

"What is your name ?" asked Kaktoogwasees. 

"I am called Ukchigumoech, 2 or Sea Duck, for I 
1 See Note 54. 2 Uk-chi-gum-6-ech 



IS o INDIAN HERO TALES 

dive far!" the other said, boasting. "Who are 

you r 

"Men call me Kwemoo, or Loon 1 !" laughed 
Kaktoogwasees. 

At a word, the two men dived headlong. Breath- 
less, the villagers waited. 

The Sea Duck, after a 
time, came up for breath. 
Kaktoogwasees was not 
to be seen. 

An hour passed, and another. Kaktoogwasees 
did not appear. 

"He is drowned !" thought the villagers. Many 
went back to their homes. 

Another hour had 
passed, when Kaktoog- 
wasees came up, smiling. 
"I told you I was like a 
loon !" he laughed. 
The chief now made an end of the tasks. ■ 
"You have won !" he cried ; and he led Kaktoog- 
1 See Note 55. 





KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 151 

wasees to his wigwam. Keekwajoo was already 
there. 

"The wedding feast shall be to-night !" the chief 
told them. 

A crier was sent through the village to invite the 
people. Soon all was bustle in the lodges. Every- 
body was getting out his best clothes. 

In the chiefs wigwam, the floor was swept and 
made smooth for dancing. Hemlock boughs, for 
the fire, were piled near the door. Pots, heaped 
with good things to eat, stood by the fireplace. 
The guests brought their own feast bowls. 

Again the chief was to see what 
power Glooskap could give. 

The guests had come in, and 
the fun began. The young 
men sang ; the drummers 
drummed ; the dancers 
flew about, crying joy- 
fully. 

One old man had 
a log, carved with 




IS 2 INDIAN HERO TALES 

notches ; over these he rubbed a stick, making sweet 
music. 

At midnight all sat down to feast. The chiefs 
wife filled each one's bowl, saying, " Eat all of it |" 

"I cannot eat so much!" cried a young man. 
His bowl was heaped with steaming fats. 

The old men laughed. " I will help you eat it," 
said one, " but you must pay me your knife!" . 

Keekwajoo, meanwhile, sat by the door, looking on. 

"Lazy Keekwajoo," laughed the others, "why 
do you not dance ?" 

Keekwajoo arose. Slowly at first, he began to 
dance around the fire. Fast, faster, he flew, now 
with his face forward, now with his back. Won- 
dering, the others watched him. They saw that his 
feet were sinking into the hard floor. 

Around he flew, sinking deeper at every turn. 
At last, only his head was seen above the ground. 1 

This ended the merrymaking. With a deep 
trench around the fireplace there could be no more 
dancing. All went home for the night. 

1 See Note 56. 



KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 153 




The next day Keekwajoo and the newly wed pair 
entered their canoe and sailed homeward. Kak- 
toogwasees paddled. His heart was light. 

But their trials were not over. 

They had been gone but a few hours when black 
clouds arose on the sea. A storm blew up. The 
canoe pitched upon the waves. 

Keekwajoo laughed. "Your father's friends hope 
to wreck us !" he told the bride. "I will blow 
back the storm." 

He knelt, facing the tempest, and filled his lungs. 
Puffing out his cheeks, he blew, wind against wind. 
Soon the clouds rolled back. The sun came out, 
and the sea was smooth again. 

The men paddled gayly on. The wind sang in 
their ears, so fast they flew. 

They had to pass one more danger. 

At evening, as they were paddling along, a dark 



154 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



mass arose in their path. "What is it ?" Kaktoog- 
wasees asked. 

Keekwajoo shaded his eyes. "It is Quabeet, the 
great beaver !" he said. "He is Glooskap's enemy, 

and ours !" 

Quabeet lay 
with his head 
under water, his 
tail aloft. He 
thought to sink 
the canoe with a 
j» blow. 

Keekwajoo 
steered straight 
for him. 

"I am the hun- 
ter of beavers !" 
he shouted ; and 
with his hatchet, he cut off Quabeet's great tail. 

It fell into the water with a great plash, nigh 
overturning the canoe. 

The sun was setting when Keekwajoo and his 




KEEKWAJOO AND KAKTOOGWASEES 155 

friends landed on Glooskap's island. Glooskap was 
waiting for them on the beach. 

"I see you have brought back my canoe !" he 
said, smiling. He shoved it from the shore, and 
it became an island again. 

Glooskap led the way to his wigwam. 

"In all that you did, I helped," he said. "I saw 
you slay the chepichkam. I kept the toboggan 
from overturning \" 

At the door, he paused. 

"Go," he said to Keekwajoo, "dwell with magi- 
cians. You," he said to Kaktoogwasees, "live with 
your bride. If you have need, think of me and I 
will come !" Then he entered his wigwam. 



NINETEENTH TALE 
THE GOING OF GLOOSKAP 
But the time came when Glooskap had to quit 
the world. Men were growing more evil ; and they 
no longer obeyed or loved him. "Glooskap/' they 
cried, "who is he ?" And they mocked at him. 
Such is the world's way. 

Men and beasts spoke then one language; and 
the Abnakis even called the beasts and birds their 
brothers. This peace lasted while Glooskap was 
chief. 

When they no longer loved Glooskap, men began 

156 



THE GOING OF GLOOSKAP 157 

to hate one another. Then came wars. Every- 
where were fighting and strife. 

Glooskap sorrowed greatly. "I will forsake 
the land/' he said at last. "The people weary me 
with their quarrels." 

He made ready to go. 

On the shore of the sea he got ready a feast ; 
and to it he invited the people. The birds and 
beasts came also, for in those days they were as 
men. Glooskap welcomed all. 

They ate, and there was much dancing and 
drumming. At last Glooskap stood up to speak. 

"I go," he said, "into the west. Some day I 
will return !" 

His stone canoe lay on the beach. Glooskap 
dragged it to the water and stepped in. He pushed 
off, singing. 

From the shore, the people watched the canoe 
rising, falling, on the waves. Smaller it grew, until 
it was a dot on the water. The song became fainter, 
ceased. Silence fell on all. 

In the west the sun had set. Twilight was falling. 



IS 8 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Sadly the people turned to go, when a strange 
thing came to pass. 

Men and beasts, who had spoken one language, 
found they could no longer understand one another. 
The people fled in fear to their wigwams. The 
beasts slunk to their dens. Never again were they 
to meet in council. 

All knew, too late, that their friend had departed, 
The snowy owl flew into the forest calling, " Koo, 
koo, skoos, — 0, I am sorry ! " 

The loons go wailing up and down the land ; 
and at night the wolves, Glooskap's servants, howl 
mournfully for their master. 

Men and beasts now slay each other and are 
never happy. There will be no peace until Gloos- 
kap comes. 



TWENTIETH TALE 

GLOOSKAP AND THE THREE SEEKERS 

Not all men had forgotten Glooskap. Some, like 
the owl, loved him and mourned his going. Among 
these it was told that they who had need might 
yet find him ; but the way to him was long and full 
of danger. 

Three men were unhappy. Each had an evil 
in his life and knew not how to get rid of it. "Let 
us seek Glooskap/' said one, at last. "He will 
help us r 

They left home in the spring, when birds were 
singing. All summer they journeyed, over rivers, 

159 



160 INDIAN HERO TALES 

through forests. Fall came, and winter, and spring 
again ; and they had not found Glooskap. They 
would not turn back. 

At midsummer they came to a path, and follow- 
ing it came out by a river that widened into a lake. 

The path went on around the 
lake. It was marked in places 
by blazed trees. 

"There is a wigwam 
ahead !" said the men. "The 
trees are barked on the side 
towards us." 1 

They hastened on and 
came to a point of land that 
went out into the lake. They climbed a hill and 
saw white smoke rising at the end of the point. 
They made their way thither and found a wigwam. 

They entered. A warrior sat at the right of the 
fireplace, smoking a pipe. An old woman was 
stirring a pot on the fire. A mat was at the left of 
the door, as if some one sat there. 

1 See Note 57. 




GLOOSKAP AND THE THREE SEEKERS 161 

" Kwai, — welcome !" said the warrior. He made 
a place for the strangers to sit, and offered them 
his pipe. He did not ask who they were. 

As the men sat resting, they heard the plash of a 
paddle and a sound as of a canoe dragged up on the 
beach. The door-skin opened and a youth entered. 
He was slim, and his clothes fitted him neatly. 

"Grandmother," he called, "here is meat for 
you V 9 

The old woman tottered to the door and fetched 
in four beavers. 

She brought her skinning knife and sat, to make 
the meat ready for the pot. But her eyes were 
weak, and her hands 
shook; and the 
knife fell from her 
grasp. 

The warrior spoke. 
"Younger brother, f! 
you cut up the 
meat !" 

The youth did so ; and the old woman dropped 

IND. HERO TALES II 




!6 2 INDIAN HERO TALES 

the pieces into a pot. When the pot had boiled, 

all supped. 

The travelers rested many days in the wigwam. 
All this time the warrior asked them nothing. 

Then a thing happened that showed them their 
hosts were not common folk. 

The old woman had seemed to grow more aged 
every day. Her back became more and more bent ; 
and her hands shook so that she could hardly stir the 

fire when it was low. 

The travelers pitied 
her. "She will die/' 
they thought. 

One morning, as she 
bent over the fire, the 
warrior said, "Younger 
brother, bathe your 
grandmother's face 
with water !" 
The youth fetched a bowl, filled it, and gave it 
to her. 

As the water touched the old woman's face, a 




GLOOSKAP AND THE THREE SEEKERS 163 



change came over her. Her cheeks grew plump ; 
her hair that had been white, became black and 
glossy, and her bent back grew straight. 

From a bag, she brought out a garment of 
softest skins and put it on ; and now she stood 
before them, a woman, young, 
sweet-faced, graceful. The 
travelers had never seen any 
one more lovely. 

"The man is a magician," 
they thought ; and it awed 
them. 

The warrior now spoke to 
them. "Who are you, and 
what do you seek ?" 

"We are Abnaki men," 
they answered. "We seek Glooskap." 

"I am he !" said the warrior. His face changed 
as he spoke, and he grew younger. The others 
saw that he was indeed Glooskap. 

The first of the travelers told his wish. 

"I am a wicked man," he said, "quick to anger; 




X 6 4 INDIAN HERO TALES 

and I speak ill of others. I long to be good, that 

men may love me !" 

"I am poor," said the second ; "I kill not enough 
meat to give my children. I want to be rich, that 
I may care for them !" 

"I," said the third, "am ugly, and my body is 
crooked. I long to be handsome, that all may wel- 
come me when I come to their wigwams." 

Glooskap sat and thought. "You shall have as 
you ask," he said at last. 

He arose, and from his medicine bag brought 
three small boxes. He gave one 
to each of the travelers. "Do 
not open these," he said, "until 
you come to your village !" 
He also gave them suits of 
clothing, of softest skin, white and beautiful. "Put 
these on," he said. 

The travelers did so, casting away their own 
worn-out garments. They were now ready to depart. 

"Where is your way home?" Glooskap asked 
them. 




GLOOSKAP AND THE THREE SEEKERS 165 

"We do not know," they answered. "We were 
many months coming. We do not know our way 
back." 

"I will guide you home," said Glooskap. 

The next morning he put on his belt and led the 
men forth. Before noon, they came to the top of 
a mountain. Glooskap pointed to another moun- 
tain in the distance. "That," he said, "is near 
your home !" 

At mid-afternoon, they came to the top of the 
other mountain. The men wondered to come to 
it so soon. 

Glooskap stood and pointed with his finger. 
"There," he said, "is your village !" 

The men looked, and saw they were in their own 
land. 

Glooskap now left them. With happy hearts, 
the three Indians climbed down the mountain side. 
They reached home before sunset. 

None knew them when they came to their wig- 
wams, not even their kin. "Where did you get 
such rich clothes ?" their friends asked them. 



j66 INDIAN HERO TALES 

They told their story. 

When they had ended, they opened their boxes. 
Within was a sweet-smelling ointment, which they 
rubbed over their flesh. A marvelous change then 
came over them. 

He that was ugly and had a crooked back, be- 
came straight and handsome. He was welcomed in 
every wigwam. 

He that was poor had his wish, and became rich. 
Moose and deer ran to him to be shot. Fish 
swarmed into his nets. He did not forget that he 
had been poor. He gave to all who had need. 

He that was wicked became gentle and good. Of 
all, his blessing was greatest. 



TWENTY-FIRST TALE 

GLOOSKAP AND THE THREE MEN WHO BECAME 

PINES 

The story of the three travelers and their gifts 
made much noise in the land. It was told in every 
village, at every camp fire. Old men, listening, 
nodded their heads and said, "We did so in our 
youth !" The young men burned to do as the 
travelers had done. 

Three brothers, hearing the story, were minded to 
go to Glooskap. They were stout lads, but vain 
and knowing little of the big world. "We can 

167 



x68 INDIAN HERO TALES 

do what others have done!" they boasted. And 

they set off. 

They journeyed long and entered a land where no 
birds sang. They climbed a high mountain: to 
go down was even harder, for the mountain over- 
hung a plain below. They reached the ground 
- more dead than alive. 

A little way on, they saw a thing to freeze their 
blood ! Two great serpents lay with heads on 
either side of the road. The serpents hissed., dart- 
ing out their tongues. 

The brothers dared not go back. "We cannot 
climb the mountain !" they thought. Taking heart, 
they ran so swiftly between the serpents' heads, 
that the poisoned tongues did not touch them. 

A worse thing was before them. It was a thick, 
heavy cloud, like a wall : and it rose and fell, rose 
and fell, crushing all beneath. No one knew when 

it would fall. 

"We cannot go back!" thought the brothers 
again. As the cloud rose, they darted under. They 
came out just as it fell. 



THE THREE MEN WHO BECAME PINES 169 
They now found themselves in Glooskap's land. 



They spied Glooskap's wigwam standing between 
two others. 



them a bea- 
ver's tail to eat. 1 They asked him who lived in 
the other lodges. 

"My two friends," he answered. 

When they had done eating, Glooskap led the 
men out to see his friends. 

In the first wigwam was Koolpujot, 2 a strange 
man. He has no bones and cannot move himself. 
Twice a year Glooskap rolls him over, in spring 
toward the east ; in autumn, toward the west. 
1 See Note 58. 2 Kool-pii-jot 



They wondered to see it so fair. 



Glooskap . I 
welcomed the j 
men and gave 



All were of 

bark. Gloos- S 

kap's was the lj 

tallest. 1 




170 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



Koolpujot's breath sweeps down forests. His 
look brings frost, hail, rain, sunshine. 
All this means the seasons. 

In the other wigwam dwelt Kookwa, 1 or Earth- 



-= "^^^r:^" power. 
The brothers rested a few days. Glooskap then 
asked them, "What do you want ?" 

The first was a tall man, vain of his looks. His hair 
was combed high and was thick with bear's grease ; 
and a turkey feather waved in his scalp lock. 

"I wish," he said, "to be the tallest Indian in the 
world/' 

The second was pleased with Glooskap's land. 
"I should like to live here always !" he said. 




quake. This 
mighty man can 
rush along un- 
derground. He 
makes the earth 
tremble and 
shake at his 



Kook-wa 



THE THREE MEN WHO BECAME PINES 171 

"I want to live to a great age," said the third, 
"and have good health!" 

Glooskap looked at them gravely. 

"You shall have as you wish," he said, "but 
not, I fear, to your ^ - iJlf 



been asleep. ^ r : ^^^0Y^ y ^- 

"Take these 
men," said Glooskap, "and set their feet in the 
ground !" 

Kookwa led the brothers to the side of a knoll. 
One by one, he lifted them and stood them in a row, 
with their feet in the ground. They became three 
pine trees. 

So each man had his wish. 



liking ! " 



Earthquake came 
out of his lodge, 
yawning might- H 
ily. He had ^ 



He arose and went to 
the door. " Kookwa," he 
called, "come f" 




i 7 2 INDIAN HERO TALES 

He that would be tall, lifts his head above all 
the forest trees. The turkey feather, now a tuft 
of green, waves in the wind. All day long, in the 
pine forests, the tree may be heard whispering : 

"Oh, I am such a tall man ; 
Oh, I am such a big Indian !" 

The second, who would dwell in Glooskap's land, 
is there still. With his roots in the ground, he 
cannot leave. 

The third, who would live long, has his wish. If 
the winds have not blown him down, he stands as 
Kookwa left him ! 



TWENTY-SECOND TALE 

THE LAST BATTLE 

Glooskap still lives. His wigwam stands on an 
island far in the west. It is a long wigwam, and its 
door opens toward the sunrise, where the Abnakis 
dwell. 

There Glooskap sits on a mat, and makes arrows. 
He sings strange songs as he works. 

No one comes to his door. He will let none 
enter. 

Already the wigwam is half full of arrows. When 
it is filled, Glooskap will come forth to make war. 
He has not forgotten the evil that men did him. 

173 



I74 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Many think he will slay all mankind. Others, 
very old men, say: "It is not so ! He will slay the 
wicked. The good who die go to Glooskap's land. 
There live the Bear Woman and Abistanooch ; and 
Glooskap's two dogs are with him, leaping and 
barking as of yore !" 



GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES 



English equivalents are in Italics 

A-bls-tan-ooch, Marten; name of Glooskap's adopted 

brother. 

Ab-na-ki, East Folk ; name given by other Algonkins 

to the tribes of New England and Nova 
Scotia. 
Snake. 

A bark basket. 
A cannibal sorcerer. 

Whale. 

A fabulous horned serpent. 
Deceiver; the Abnaki creator and demi-god. 
Little Thunder ; name of an Indian. 
Badger ; name of an Indian. 
The name of a giant, Glooskap's friend. 
Oh, I am sorry ; an exclamation. 
Earthquake. 
A cannibal giant. 

He -who - is - rolled- over- with- hand -spikes ; 

personification of the revolving seasons. 
stop; an exclamation. 
welcome; an exclamation. 
Loon. 



At-o-sis, 
bobch-ka-joo, 
bob-6-fn, 
Boot-up, 
che-pich-kam, 
Globs-kap, 
K ak-toog-wa-sees, 
Keek-wa-joo, 
Kit-poos -a-gun-o, 
koo, koo, skoos, 
Kook-wa, 
kobk-wess, 
K6ol-pu-jot, 

kuss, 
kwai, 
Kwe-moo, 



175 



176 INDIAN HERO TALES 

Mal-sum, Wolf; the name of Glooskap's brother. 

Meek-o, Squirrel. 

me-ga-soo-we-soo, An enchanter whose magic lies in a wooden 
flute. 

Mik-chich, Turtle; the name of Glooskap's adopted 

uncle. 

Moo-in, Bear. 
Pa-mo-la, Nighthawk. 

Pik-took, Bubbling Air; name of a place on the 

coast of Nova Scotia. 
Po-gumk, Fisher. The fisher is an animal of the 

weasel kind. 
Pok-in-skwess, The name of a sorcerer. 

Pul-o-wech, Partridge. 
Qua-beet, Beaver. 
Tee-am, Moose. 
te-pee, A lodge. 

Tum-il-koon-ta-wob, Broken Wing; name of the wind eagle. 
Uk'-chi-gum-o-ech, Sea Duck; name assumed by a diver. 
u k say, Oh, horrible/ an exclamation, 

wel-sum, A fabulous beast. 

Wi-jek, Tree Partridge; Pulowech's cousin. 

We-ya-desk, Northern Light; name assumed by a 

runner. 

Win-pi, The name of a sorcerer. 

Wo-s6g-wo-desk, Lightning Flash; name assumed by Keek- 
wajoo. 



EXPLANATORY NOTES 



1, page 9; "An eagle's feather stood in his scalp 
lock." The tail feathers of the golden eagle were worn 
almost universally over North America. These feathers 
m eagles under two years of age are of a pure white, 
with dark brown or black tips, and are much prized. 
As the eagle grows older, the white parts of the plumes 
become a mottled brown, and are less valued. 

A warrior earned his right to wear eagles' plumes. 
Their significance varied with the tribe. Among the 
Minitaris, an eagle feather in the hair meant, "I have 
been in battle and struck an enemy." 

Eagle hunting was a highly honored occupation. 

2, page 75; "to bury fish in their fields that the corn 
might grow." The custom of burying a fish in each 
hill of maize, to fertilize it, was taught our early Pilgrim 
fathers by the New England Indians. 

3, page 16; "He called her his grandmother." That 
is, his grandmother by adoption. Grandmother and 
grandfather are terms of respect. 

4, page 16; "Glooskap called him his younger brother." 
His adopted younger brother. The terms elder and 
younger also indicate rank. The elder has precedence. 
Indian etiquette is well defined. 



IND. HERO TALES — 12 



177 



i?8 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



5, page 20; "and he made a fire by his brother's 
grave." An Algonkin custom to light the ghost on its 
four days' journey to the spirit land. 

6, page 21 ; "He covered it with bark sewed in wide 
strips." There were several of these strips stretching 
around the wigwam, and overlapping like shingles. 
They were held in place by overlying poles, bound to 
the tent poles beneath. When camp was moved, only 
the bark strips were taken. On the prairies, where 
wood was scarce, the tent poles were often borne along 
with the moving camp. 

7, page 23; "Glooskap had two wonderful dogs." 
Before white men came, the Indians had but one domestic 
animal, the dog. He was used in hunting, as a watch 
dog, and as a beast of burden. The parboiled flesh of a 
young dog is thought a delicacy by some tribes. 

8, page 23; "A wooden platter lay in the bottom of 
the canoe." With a piece of flint for a knife, the Indians 
carved beautiful bowls or platters of wood. A large knot 
was split from the trunk of a tree, and the bowl pain- 
fully worked into shape. Such bowls were used for feast 
bowls and to toss dice in gaming. 

9, page 24; "It may be he did so to gain power." 
That is, supernatural power, magic power. No Indian 
started off" to war without first seeking power of the spirits. 

10, page 27; "She is smoking Glooskap's pipe." A 
whale, coming up and blowing the vapor-laden air from 
its lungs, sends up a fine spray, not unlike smoke ; hence 
this curious myth. 



EXPLANATORY NOTES 179 

11, page 28 ; "She begged Glooskap to fetch her some 
firewood." This was woman's work, We may suspect 
that the witch sought to humble Glooskap. 

12, page 29; "warmed Glooskap some broth." The 
light broth in which dried meat is boiled is used as a hot 
drink. It is merely beef tea. 

13, page 31; "The old man was a boodin" A boooin 
is a sorcerer or conjurer, especially an evil conjurer who 
eats human flesh ; our word powwow is a slightly altered 
form of the word. 

14, page 33; "marks scratched upon it told Glooskap 
all he needed to know." The eastern tribes were skill- 
ful at picture writing. Messages in pictographic signs 
are still exchanged by older Indians. 

J 5> P a g e 34,' "but his clothes were good." The sleek 
coat of the marten, as of all members of the weasel family, 
will hardly reveal the starved condition of its owner. 

16, page 38 ; "Glooskap came upon a town of many 
lodges." These, of course, were the loons' nests. 

I 7> page 41; "Come and sit back of the fire." The 
place of honor in a wigwam is back of the fireplace. 

18, page 43; "Glooskap laid a great belt of wampum 
beads on his arm." Wampum beads were cut out of 
shells. To cut one bead was a day's labor. Beads were 
of two colors, white and blue. They were used as a 
rude form of money. 

19, page 47 ; "They will ask you to play a game of 
ball." Our game of lacrosse is derived from a form of 
the Indians' game of ball. 



i8o 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



20, page 49; "you must hang in the smoke." This 
amusing part of the myth is perhaps suggested by the 
custom of smoking meat over the wigwam fire. 

21, page jo; "while the women dried meat." Meat 
for winter was sliced thin and dried on scaffolds in the 
open air, or over a slow fire. The dried meat was packed 
away in skin bags. 

22, page 52; "and soon came upon a fat cow moose." 
The flesh of the cow is more esteemed, because more 
tender. The buffalo-hunting Indians, unless game was 
scarce, hunted only cows. 

23, page 54; "All night they danced by the firelight." 
Indians will often dance and sing an entire night. Sing- 
ing and dancing were marks of rejoicing, especially at 
the death of an enemy. 

24, page 64; "Glooskap and the giant sat, smoking 
and telling tales." Telling tales was a common way of 
passing the evening, especially in late autumn and 
winter. Among some tribes it was forbidden to tell 
the tribal myths or to talk of the spirits in summer, when 
nature was alive. 

25, page 69; "boochkajoo, or bark basket." Baskets 
for carrying objects on the back were common m all the 
tribes. A thong from the basket passed over the car- 
rier's forehead or shoulders. 

26, page 73; "They met in a long lodge." Lodges, 
built long to hold a large company, are still found among 
the Chippewas. In shape they are not unlike an old- 
fashioned covered wagon, or prairie schooner. 



EXPLANATORY NOTES 



181 



27, page 75; "She ... sat down between two 
witches, the Toad Woman and the Porcupine Woman." 
These witches were in human shape. 

28, page 83; "strapped in a cradle, like a babe." An 
Indian babe was kept strapped in his cradle until about 
a year old. On the march, the cradle was borne on the 
mother's back, held by a thong across her forehead or 
shoulders. A wooden bow, bent around in front of the 
baby's face, protected him in case of a fall. To this 
bow, playthings were tied ; or thongs, to protect the babe 
from mosquitoes. 

We suspect Abistanooch was in his totemic, or animal 
shape. 

29, page 85; "and wedge." Wedges for splitting wood 
were commonly used by the Indians. They were made 
of wood, of a piece of deer's antler, or of a buffalo horn. 

For a buffalo horn wedge, the horn was dipped in 
marrow fat and held over a fire until soft ; a piece of ash 
wood was then driven into the hollow horn, straighten- 
ing it. With such rude tools, trees of considerable size 
were split, and even made into planks. 

30, page 8j; "Pulowech." Pulowech is Micmac for 
the partridge or ruffed grouse. 

31, page 98 ; "weisum." A fabulous beast, owned 
by boooins and sorcerers. 

The struggle between Meeko and the weisum is a test 
of their masters' magic. 

32, page 100; "Calmly he sat in the bow, singing." 
Singing a magic song to call the spirits to aid him. 



182 



INDIAN HERO TALES 



33, page 106; "They handed the pipe around." In- 
dians smoke by inhaling into the lungs and expelling 
through the nostrils. Each smoker inhales a few whiffs, 
and passes the pipe to the next in the circle. Only the 
tips of the lips are pressed to the stem of the pipe ; it 
is never taken into the mouth. 

34, page 115 ; "the little marten had a flute." The 
flute is a rude wooden instrument, pierced with holes, and 
blown from the end like a fife. Simple melodies may be 
played upon it. 

35> P a g e 7J 6; "It was the month for making maple 
sugar." Maple sap runs the latter part of February and 
the first of March. Our art of making maple sugar was 
learned of the Abnaki Indians. 

36, page 117; "A bark kettle full of boiling sap hung 
over the fire." Such kettles were made until recently 
by the Chippewas. A fire of wood was let burn until 
the blaze died down, when the kettle was swung close to 
the coals, but not touching them. 

37, page 119; "he put parched corn in a pouch." 
Travelers often carried a lunch of parched corn. A 
ball of pounded parched corn or sunflower meal was 
carried as an emergency ration by Minitari warriors. 

38, page 123; "to the watering place." An Indian 
village was always pitched near a stream or lake. A 
place was commonly set apart as a watering place where 
the village maidens came to fill their kettles, gossip, and 
visit. The young men, dressed in their gayest, often came 
down to help their sweethearts fill their kettles. 



EXPLANATORY NOTES 



183 



39, page 129; "and shouting his warwhoop.' There is 
really no such thing as a warwhoop, as white people usually 
understand it. Indians when excited shout or yell, just 
as white men do. A German shouts hoch> an Englishman 
shouts hurrah, and Americans have their yell heard on 
many a football field. Indians have their yell also. 

40, page 129; "And lo, the village disappeared." 
Leland thinks that Glooskap here represents the rays of 
the vernal sun piercing the spirit of the frozen river. 

41, page 132; "the world was now growing wicked." 
The Indian had no clear conception of sin as the Chris- 
tian has ; but he had a horror of ingratitude. 

42, page 133; "he burned to know what was in it." 
Indians have a high regard for self-control. No vice is 
more severely condemned than idle curiosity. 

43, page 137; "With a cry weird as the sound." 
The night hawk has the habit of swooping to earth with 
a prolonged booming sound made by the vibrating quills 
of the wings. 

44, page 139; "They entered as Indians do without 
knocking." But a polite cough may be given just out- 
side the door, by an entering visitor. The Mandans 
and Minitaris hung hollow buffalo hoofs to the skin door 
of the lodge ; these made a rattling noise when the door 
opened. 

45? page I 39'> "The old grandmother was scouring a 
pot with rushes." Rushes were widely used for scouring 
and polishing. The author owns a bow polished and 
smoothed with these rushes, as with emery paper. 



l84 INDIAN HERO TALES 

46, page 139; "He had his robe drawn about his knees 
as he' sat." Indians had no chairs. Often the robe was 
drawn about the knees and around the hips, bracing the 
back as one sat. 

47, page 141; "Glooskap lent him a porcupine tail for a 
hairbrush." The skin of a porcupine's tail was mounted 
on a stick with the ends of the quills clipped or burned off, 
and used as a hair brush. Such brushes are still in use. 

48, page 141; "and a magic hairstring." These hair- 
strings were often profusely ornamented with wampum 
beads. 

49 , page 143; "In the evening he made them a feast." 
This was a proper thing to do when distinguished stran- 
gers came to the village. The Abnakis had the custom 
of requiring every guest to eat all the food given him ; 
if unable to do this, the guest must hire some one present 
to help him empty his bowl. 

50, page 144; "fetch me the chepichkam's head." 
The chepichkam was a fabulous horned serpent with 
supernatural powers. 

51, page 145; "The chief's son brought out two tobog- 
gans." The Indian sledge, or toboggan, is made of two 
thin boards curving upward at the forward end, and 
bound side by side with thongs. It is drawn by hand or 
with dogs. The toboggan is especially useful on ground 
that is irregular and uneven; and it glides easily over 
soft snow where a sled with runners would sink and 
become clogged. Coasting on a toboggan was a favorite 
winter sport with the Indians. 



EXPLANATORY NOTES 



185 



52, page 146; "Keekwajoo turned his toboggan a 
little out of the path." He did this by dragging one foot 
in the snow on the side toward which he wished to turn. 

53, page 147 ; "Keekwajoo put it in his medicine bag." 
The medicine bag was a pouch, often worn about the 
person, and containing the Indian's "medicine" or 
sacred object. 

54, page 149; "and his body trembled and quivered." 
In this myth, the two runners personify lightning and the 
northern light. Indians believe the world to be a great 
island ; to go around the world would mean to pass quite 
around the island's circumference. This the lightning easily 
does, as may be seen in any storm, when the lightning 
flashes about the whole circuit of the heavens. The aurora 
borealis, or northern light, is seen only in the northern 
half of the sky ; and it has a curious quivering, trembling 
motion, quite unlike the bold, strong flash of lightning. 

55, page 150; "Men call me Kwemoo, or Loon." The 
loon is a more powerful diver than the sea duck. 

56, page 152; "only his head was seen above the 
ground." To dance a trench in the ground was the 
severest test of Abnaki magic. 

57, page 160; "The trees are barked on the side towards 
us." When trees were blazed, it was on the side from 
the wigwam, that the blazed marks might be seen by one 
coming toward the wigwam. 

58, page 169; " and gave them a beaver's tail to eat." 
Beaver's tail is a delicacy among the Indians. 



SUPPLEMENT 



HOW TO MAKE AN INDIAN CAMP 

Young folks who want to grow up strong and 
healthy should live, like the Indians, a great deal 
out of doors ; and there is no pleasanter way to do 
this than in an Indian camp. Such a camp you 
should learn to make ; it may be pitched in a field 
or wood, in a park, or in your back yard. 

The Tent 

The Indians made many kinds of lodges. The 
commonest is a tent of poles, covered with skins or 
bark. In the West, a skin-covered tent is called a 
tepee. 1 

Of late years, tepees have been covered with 
canvas, for skins are now hard to get ; but the 
pattern of the cover is unchanged. 

A tepee, ten feet high, big enough for four boys, 
is easily made. Study the pattern designs on the 
next page. 

Sew strips of eight-ounce duck into a rectangular 

sheet, twenty feet long by ten feet wide. 

1 te-pee 
187 



i88 



INDIAN HERO TALES 




HOW TO MAKE AN INDIAN CAMP 189 

With scissors, cut out a semicircular piece, BCD, 
in Fig. 1 ; AB, AC, and AD should measure each 
ten feet. 

Cut out triangular pieces AKJ and ALM ; 
JK, AK, AL, and LM should measure each one 
foot. 

Cut the slits NO and HI, each six inches in 
length. 

The pieces STUV and WXYZ are for smoke 
flaps; ST should measure five feet; UV, four 
feet ; VS, two feet ; and TU, one foot. Like meas- 
urements apply to WXYZ. 

At S and X, in the smoke flaps, sew small, three- 
cornered pieces for pockets. 

Sew the smoke flaps to the cover so that UV is 
fitted to NM, and ZY to HJ. The pockets of the 
smoke flaps should lie on the weather side of the 
cover. 

Cut out the segments EFG and PQR for the 
door; GE and PR should measure two and one 
half feet each; and EB and DR, one foot each. 
The depth of each segment, Qd and Fe, should be 
seven inches. 

Above and below the door, between H and B, 
and N and D, make a double row of holes, three 



i 9 o INDIAN HERO TALES 

inches apart; they are for the lacing pins, and 
should be worked like button holes. 

The thong, ab, is drawn through the triangular 
piece A, and tied or sewed fast. 

All edges of the cover are now neatly hemmed. 

Around the circular edge sew loops of canvas or 
stout cord to receive the tent pins ; or better, get 
loops and eyes of some tent maker. 

The cover will now appear as in Fig. 2. 

For the frame, twelve poles will be needed. They 
should be twelve feet long and two and a half inches 
in diameter at the lower end, tapering slightly toward 
the top. The lower ends should be somewhat 
sharpened. 

Lacing pins are ten inches long and one half inch 
thick. If cut green, they should be peeled of bark, 
except an inch near each end, Fig. 3. 

For the door, bend a small green rod in the shape 
of a horseshoe, Fig. 4 ; cover with canvas, drawing 
edges over the rod and binding down, as in Fig. 5 ; 
at a and b, a cord is fastened to serve as a hinge. 

Setting up the Tent 
There are two ways of setting up the tepee frame, 
called the three-pole and the four-pole ties. The 



HOW TO MAKE AN INDIAN CAMP 191 



three-pole tie, used by the Mandans, is perhaps the 
simpler. 

Lay three poles on the ground as in Fig. 6, and 
bind firmly, two feet from the top. 

The poles are set up in a tripod, Fig. 7, for the 
skeleton frame. Poles A and B, in front and 
spread apart, will inclose the door. 

Positions of the other seven poles of the frame 
are shown in the ground diagram, Fig. 8. A, B, 
and C are the three poles of the skeleton frame. 
Poles D, E, and F, on the left, and G, H, and /, on 
the right, are raised in the order named. The rope 
or lariat L, Figs. 7 and 8, used for tying the skele- 
ton frame, has been left hanging. This lariat is 
now drawn out through the door, between poles 
A and B, is carried quite around the frame, and is 
drawn tight about the tie. 

The pole / in the rear of the tent is the last to 
be placed. On this pole the canvas cover is raised. 

Lay the cover on the ground, weather side up, 
and fold once over. Lay down the pole /, and tie 
the cover to it by the cord ab, Fig. 9, two feet from 
the top. 

Pole / with the cover is then raised in place be- 
tween C and F. Before the cover is drawn, the 



192 



INDIAN HERO TALES 




Fig. 7. 



HOW TO MAKE AN INDIAN CAMP 



lariat L is carried to the rear of the tent, around 
pole /, back into the tent again between / and C, 
and anchored firmly to a pin. Figure 10 shows the 
anchored frame. (Pole / is raised, but the tent 
cover is omitted in the figure.) 

The tent cover is now drawn around the frame and 
laced. The loops at the lower edge of the cover are 
secured to the ground by tent pins, driven in aslant. 
The door is hung over one of the lacing pins. 

Two poles are yet unused. They are raised and 
their upper ends are thrust into the pockets of the 
smoke flaps. By means of these poles, the smoke 
flaps may be propped down wind, so that the smoke 
may not be driven down the smoke hole. In wet 
weather, the smoke flaps may by the same means 
be folded over the smoke hole. 

The tent, set up and ready, is shown in Fig. n. 

Anchoring the Tent 
The object of pinning down the lariat L is to 
anchor the tent against the wind. The anchoring 
pin should be driven on the windward side of the 
fireplace. 

The lariat may be anchored by one or two pins. 
A two-pin anchor is shown in Fig. 12. 

IND. HERO TALES — 13 




Fig. 12. 

Fig. 13- 



HOW TO MAKE AN INDIAN CAMP 



The Fireplace 

The fireplace is in the center of the tent, under 
the smoke hole. In summer, the fire may be made 
outside of the tent. 

An Indian is rather sparing of fuel. Two or 
three sticks are laid each with an end in the fire ; 
as the ends burn away, the sticks are pushed in. 
A small hot fire of coals results. When cooking 
is over, the sticks may be drawn apart and their 
ends buried in ashes. This keeps the coals alive 
for the next meal. 

An Indian woman often keeps a goose or turkey 
wing to fan the fire, and brush the hearth clean. 

A drying pole may be hung over the fire, lashed 
at either end to a tent pole. On this may be dried 
clothing, or shoes. The camp pot may be swung 
from it by a cord and a wooden hook, Fig. 13. 

If cooking is done out of doors, a tripod is useful. 
Three saplings are bound together at the upper 
ends, and a wooden hook swung beneath, as in 
Fig. 14. By spreading the legs of the tripod, the 
pot may be lowered to any height. 

In Figs. 15 and 16 are shown two ways of making 
a spit. Fig. 16 is much used by Indian hunters. 



HOW TO MAKE AN INDIAN CAMP 197 



Inside of the Tent 

Each member of an Indian family has his place 
in the tent to rest and sleep ; for this reason, when 
a stranger comes to an Indian's tent, he stands wait- 
ing within the door, until the owner makes a place 
for him and invites him to sit down. 

Figure 17 is the floor of a tent occupied by four 
boys. The floor is divided into sections, as an 
Indian would divide it. 

In A are the pots, pans, and dishes, neatly 
covered with a cloth or paper. The water bucket 
should stand here, also covered. 

In B all unused foods should be stored, in a box 
if possible. 

C is the bed of the eldest boy. When not in use, 
blankets may be rolled up against the wall and 
serve for a seat. 

D is the bed of the second boy ; E, of the third 
boy ; F, of the youngest boy. Beds lie head to 
head, and foot to foot. 

At G, wood is piled for the night, if the weather is 
stormy. In fair weather, the wood is piled outside. 

If a guest is to be entertained, room should be 
made for him between D and E ; for Indians hold 



INDIAN HERO TALES 




Fig. 19. 



HOW TO MAKE AN INDIAN CAMP 199 

the part of the tepee back of the fire to be the place 
j of chief honor. 

Archery 

No camp is complete without archery ; but every 
boy should make his own bow and arrows. 

A bow may be made of seasoned mulberry, ash, 
sassafras, or hickory. The bow staff should be 
straight, without knot or flaw. It should be four 
inches longer than the boy's own height. 

Shave the bow into shape with a plane, making 
the back flat, the front round, as a, in Fig. 18. Cut 
nocks, d, Fig. 18, at the ends with a round file. 

Against the flat back, in the very center of the 
bow, glue a small pine block, four inches long, shaped 
like b, Fig. 18, and stay it in place with a few wrap- 
pings of flax. Cover neatly with a piece of plush, 
sewed on or glued. This is for the handle. 

Varnish, or rub with boiled linseed oil. 

The completed bow is shown in c, Fig. 18. 

The Bowstring 
The bowstring is made of thirty strands of shoe- 
maker's thread. Take ten threads, wax with bees' 
wax and twist into a cord, twisting from you. When 
three such ten-stranded cords are made, twist them 

1 &»' 
l 

I 



200 INDIAN HERO TALES 

into one, twisting toward you. This will be your 
bowstring. 

At one end, make a fixed loop, or eye, large enough 
to run easily on the upper arm of your bow. The 
other end of the string is tied fast with a bowyer's 
knot, or timber hitch, Fig. 19. 

The bowstring should be whipped with silk along 
the middle where it is drawn by the fingers. 

Keep your bowstring well waxed with bees' wax. 

Arrows 

Arrows may be planed round, or shaved, from 
half inch strips of pine or hickory. They should 
be twenty-five or twenty-six inches long for boys, 
twenty-eight inches long for adults ; and three 
eighths of an inch thick. The shaft must be straight. 

The head may be left blunt ; or the shaft may be 
split for a half inch, with a fine saw ; and a bit of 
hoop iron may be inserted, and fixed with glue and 
a wrapping of fine wire. See a and b, Fig. 20. 

There should be three feathers, taken from the 
same wing of a goose or turkey. Feathers may be 
cut from the shaft of the plume with a knife ; or 
the aftershaft with its attached barbs may be 
stripped off with the fingers. 



HOW TO MAKE AN INDIAN CAMP 201 



Glue feathers to the shaft of the arrow and trim 
evenly. A little silk and glue may be used to bind 
the upper and lower ends of the feathers to the 
shaft, c, Fig. 20. 

A nock should be filed in the feather end of the 
shaft to receive the bowstring. 

Quiver 

A good quiver is shown in Fig. 21. The back is 
made of a thin board, the floor of a half circular 
block ; a piece of thick leather is nailed to the 
edges, with brass nails. 

A belt passes over the right shoulder and under 
the left arm. 

Bracing and Shooting 

To. brace the bow, rest the lower end against the 
right foot ; grasp the handle of the bow with the 
right hand, and push the eye of the bowstring into 
the nock with the left hand, Fig. 22. 

The arrow is laid on the bowstring, and drawn 
with the first three fingers of the right hand. The 
shaft is held between the first and second fingers, 
Fig. 23. Draw until the root of your thumb touches 
your right ear, and loose. 

The arrow should be drawn on the left of the bow. 




Fig. 22. 



HINTS TO YOUNG CAMPERS 203 



HINTS TO YOUNG CAMPERS 

Do not throw away bits of refuse food ; burn or 
bury them. Bury all tin cans. 

Bury potatoes in sand or loose earth, to keep them 
fresh. 

Air your bed clothing and blankets every day. 

Bows and arrows, shoes, clothing, and the like 
may be stored out of the way by making them into 
a long bundle, and lashing them to one of the tent 
poles, as shown in Fig. 24. 

Indians had no soap. Pots were scoured out with 
rushes. Your camp kettle and dishes may be 
cleaned in the same way ; if no rushes can be found, 
use coarse grass, dipped in a little wet sand, and 
drench with water. 

A camp in your back yard is nearly as good as one 
in the forest. 



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J 
1 



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